Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Recording Industry and MP3s
Author: Daniel Berlinger Posted: 5/5/1999; 11:49:33 AM Topic: Recording Industry and MP3s Msg #: 5693 (In response to 5690) Prev/Next: 5692 / 5694
Some of the little touring bands that I go to see make more money on their CD sales at their concerts and they do on the concert itself. If they couldn't sell the CDs, they wouldn't be on the road, and I wouldn't be hearing their music.And larger groups make more money off of merchandising than ticket sales. Tickets sales have too many entities splitting the income.
I wrote to Dave earlier today:
Labels provide three things. Money, marketing, and distribuition. There were always other sources for the first two but the last was pretty much locked up by the labels.
Digital distribution eliminates this problem, and the web has already forever changed marketing. There have always been many sources for money, you just need to apply the correct approach depending on the source.
An artist can make a deal with CD-Now, or Amazon, they can produce their own site and link into sites that specialize in digital distribution like mp3.com... and I'm sure, many other models.
The labels don't have a good reputation with the artists. While you can argue about whether artists should have ever given their power over to the labels (and do so with almost every deal), the bottom line is they do, but are beginning to see that they don't have to. They can be smarter business people and make a good deal now they aren't locked into the atom distribution process.
Broadband further alters this picture. If you could call up a favorite song, collection etc, with the same certainty that you now use the web wouldn't that change your music purchasing habits? It's the radio model. You play, you pay. There's a lot of music I'd love to have access to this way. I'd be able to afford to experiment much more...
As far as "copy protection" goes, there are some technologies that would help. For example, if one could watermark each instance... making every CD unique, or every download of song unique, it would have some impact. But the notion of copy protecting music is kind of silly in that sooner or later it has to be turned into music in the air, and once it gets to that point it is "free" for the taking. (And you understand that) Most people will do the right thing if you give them a chance.
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