Can popular music be a genuine force for political change?

I argue that popular music can be a genuine force for political change.

To clarify, I feel that music has a limited power in directly causing political change, but I think that political change over the past century or so, and perhaps even longer, has gone hand-in-hand with music.

It is always evident, at protests and rallies, the presence of music and songs. Music and lyric have long been interconnected with the notion of free speech. Songs are use as a means of conveying the message of the protests, becoming perhaps a part of a protests identity.

An example of popular music arguably causing political change, is the Live 8 concerts. These global events, indeed highlighted important issues, but caused no real noticable change.

Politics and music have a way of combining. Music is perhaps a route through which political issues and topics are brought to the fore, highlighting them, but never really effecting change. The question of whether highlighting the issues, is contributing towards political change is very relevant. Music indirectly causes some political change, making it a genuine force.

Is DRM the best way to save the music Industry?

I feel that DRM is the best way to save the music Industry.

Music has made the progression over the years from vinyl to cassette to disc to digital format. The digital format seems the least secure in the sense that one file, can theoretically, be accessed and used by an unlimited number of people. Since before proliferation of MP3 players, there has been some websites providing either illegal music files, or the means of obtaining these files (Napster). These websites were not subject to DRM, and hence were widely used, by millions of people globally. 

Now, most music websites are subject to digital rights management. This is good for the artists, whom otherwise would be losing out on revenue because of illegal downloading. But the fact still remains. If someone can get music for free on one site, they'll most like opt to get it there, rather than pay for it. 

DRM needs to be absolute. All music websites would have to be under the control of DRM. This would inevitably mean the demise of many of these websites, which in turn would benefit the music industry even more, because there would be less sites to regulate. 

The purchase or obtaining of music, I feel, will eventually progress to being mostly bought on digital format, as opposed to on discs. Without the intervention of DRM, the music industry will undoubtedly suffer, and who knows what else...