Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
In terms of the music industry, we've gone from a model based predominately on a product unit consumption: most revenues, I imagine, came from this, the selling of "albums." But now you have the free Internet. But you also get a number of other changes. But first, isn't it interesting how there are many individuals who would rather die than pay $0.99 for a song track when it can be had for free, yet they have at least one reason to pay $2.49 for the song's "ring tone"?
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I don't think it's entirely accurate to say that there are many people who 'would rather die' than pay a buck per tune. This isn't an ideological issue for most folks, but rather a value-driven decision. A consequence of cheap media storage and transport is that people no longer attach any real value to the media. The easy availability of free music with no real negative consequences has killed the prospect of charging money for music -- it's hard to increase the convenience factor substantially and you sure as hell can't beat the price. When it comes to piracy, there's just no way to compete.
Your ring tone example highlights the whole thing nicely, in fact. The cell phone providers have their platform properly locked down. They create an artificial scarcity to add value; if you want your cell phone to blast out Eminem's latest hit in all it's tinny glory when your BFF calls, you'll have to fork out your $2.49 to do it. The providers have prevented any other means of achieving the same result. If, on the other hand, you want to listen to Eminem on your iPod while you run/commute/whatever, there's no sense in paying for it. You can get it online for free. It may be illegal, but there's no real consequences and it's hard to convincingly portray multi-millionaire artists or multi-billion dollar corporations as victims. Ideology doesn't really fit into it, except on the extreme edges.
OK Go is an interesting example. Free sharing of their music (via Youtube primarily, in this case) is what turned them into a household name. They were around prior to the explosion of A Million Ways, but weren't 'big' in any sense of the term. They've stuck to a formula that's worked for them within the constraints of the limitations placed in front of them by their label, and that's done okay too.
The bottom line is that you can rail and rave against the ignorant masses who steal trillions of dollars in intellectual property every second, but it won't change anything. This is the new face of the cultural industry. You can't put the genie back in the bottle. All that's left to do now is adapt to it, and those who refuse to do so will inevitably perish.
The music and film industries are right in the middle of this, but with products like the Kindle being the next big wave, I have a feeling that the publishing industry is going to be the next front. Brace yourself.