Originally Posted by Speederlander
While this might be true in some cases, this type of argument is flawed when applied to all torrent-ed digital media.
First is the assumption that it is even possible for most around the world who use pirated software/files to compensate for what they ask. I remember when Vista was first released and it was first cracked in countries where, if you compared even the above-average salary of the population and the exchange rates, there is no way for 97.5% of the population to even afford Vista for what microsoft was asking. Its pretty simply psychology and economics that if a population is straight priced out of the option of even considering to buy, they find ways around the price barrier.
Additionally this argument cannot even be applied to music industry. As has been pointed out, the Major record labels have tremendous incentive to do everything in their power to keep the current outdated model purely out of their own self-interest.
Also, most people that download albums from major labels would never actually spend money on those albums. They simply wouldn't listen to them. Metallica is the great hypocrite. They never would have made it even close to as successful as they did if hordes of poor head banger teenagers of 1986 weren't copying their cassette tapes 100 times and passing them out to everyone they knew. No one would ever have heard of Metallica if people weren't freely passing out their music which is something they easily forget. During Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning, NO ONE knew or cared about buying Metallica yet. Only through the few mavens being quite persistent in freely giving out Metallica music did people ever catch on to who they were.
There are serious flaws in the statistic collection models the major record labels use to allege that "people are spending less on music due to downloading". That is completely false.
What has happened is that music production, due to technological advances, has become completely democratized. People are spending just as much money on music, but that money is simply not going to major record labels.
The money is going to home studio producers, such as long time synth company Roland from Japan. The money is going to all the new digital music production software such as Reason, Logic, Pro Tools, Ableton and the huge selection of Virtual synths that are coming out. 30 years ago the original analog synth makers were all going out of business (Arp, Sequential Circuits, Octave, etc). Today there is a vibrant and very profitable market for the cutting edge music gear makers. One excellent example is the company Kurzweil that produced the most important digital sampling synth of the late 1990s (the K2000). The founder of Kurzweil, is a well known futurist whose written books on technology development such as The Singularity is Near.
On the commercial side, "small independent" record labels have grown to mid-size and greater status. For example, in 1989 there was no such label as Ninja Tune which is one of the biggest labels for downtempo breakbeats around the world. There are entire genres of music today (from Drum and Bass to Psytrance) that are popular from Europe to India and whose music is released through a variety of small to mid size labels that were not even in existence 25 years ago. The vast majority of the money in the electronica music industry has existed well outside the major labels except in a few cases (such as Prodigy or 808 State). Otherwise music has simply out-evolved the major recording labels' business and pop culture model. Kevin Kelly wrote on this long ago in New Rules for the New Economy which, while conventional economists have criticized over the years, still is quite relevant in certain cases such as music industry.
With kids able to make and produce music entirely in their homes. With a host of emerging small-mid size record labels, and a network that spans the globe, 1960 style major record labels are simply not necessary.
Its not that no one is buying music. Its just that with the proliferation of the Long Tail of digital economics making every niche market viable and the rise of entire areas of music (electronica) that evolved almost entirely outside of major label influence, the money being spent on "music" is being dispersed over a much greater number of people and companies that at any point in history.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks