Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Oops, you missed some things!

Author:Joshua Allen
Posted:9/1/2000; 9:11:12 AM
Topic:The Lie of "IP"
Msg #:20690 (In response to 20668)
Prev/Next:20689 / 20691

I think your comment about "we make it up on volume" is very important. The reason that you need to charge each person using your services is that you are thereby encouraged to produce products that serve the most widespread need possible. If we all act as independent consultants to one another, we stay awfully close to zero-sum. Ideas (IP) are even more important to focus on broad-impact markets than tangible goods.

Also, I am not sure about the music example. I think much of the discussion around napster to this point is missing some important perspective. First, it is true that the record labels take a large cut of the revenues. However, nobody is forcing the artists to work with those distributors. Many groups start their own labels. Another thing I have not seen mentioned is the fact that the "artistic talent" has little to do with what people are buying. Look at the top of the charts -- N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, Brittney Spears, and Christina Aguillera. All of these are manufactured product, created by the record labels to sell to consumers. It may be hard for her to swallow, but Brittney is not the important thing in this equation. She was just one small (and replacable) raw material that went into making the product. By the same token I think it is silly for Courtney Love to be bellyaching. She would not be selling records if not for the fact that the record companies created her. Looking for artistic excellence from the record companies is like looking for diamond tiaras in the gutter.

Now by the same token, I think that talk about how it is now super cheap to duplicate music is completely missing the point. I mean, a cassette tape recorder is pretty damn cheap! I remember as a youngster swapping bootlegged and unreleased songs with friends. I even remember listening to bands that were not yet signed to record label deals. And sure, making a cassette-tape copy is not as frictionless as stealing over napster, but it was easier than getting a drivers license and driving to the record store. Communications getting cheaper and duplication getting cheaper is nothing new. Market efficiencies have always been improving. That is a good thing for consumers, because it means that (in combination with competition), those efficiencies will make it to the consumers.

So today it is easier than ever for artists to go independent of the record labels. But I think it's unlikely that this will be the common model for a long while to come. Kids and consumers still need a record label to tell t hem what is good. Artists still need a marketing company to polish and package them. Another thing the labels provide is shared experience. People really do want that...

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