Music moguls, get over yourselves
I've been in a huff over the digital copyright issue since the filesharing lawsuits handed out to students a few years back. But, the recent lawsuits against Sony and the increasing number of royalty and licensing issues concerning digital media has revived my annoyance with the industry. Mike, a fellow blogger at ThisAreMusic, nudged me toward David Byrne's website to give me one more example to get my goat. Byrne tells us how the industry, through the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, has placed onerous restrictions and licensing agreements on streaming radio. Why? Maybe the legislators were too stupid to know what they were doing. Maybe they had no idea that streaming radio serves the same purpose as broadcast radio. Both are probably true, but, in the end, the "rules" are just another example of the industry's paranoia about CD profit losses.
If I didn't love so many of them dearly, I'd simply pick the CDs in my collection with the big-guy labels and toss them on the disc golf course (this would be the light-weight division, which gives me kudos to adding TWO new classes of sport on the disc golf course). And, I wouldn't try to keep them on the grass. No, I'd aim for the ooze flowing down some crack of the Huron River.
I'm a firm believer in sharing digital music, simply because it inspires me to buy CDs. Damnit, I like buying CDs. I like owning the music, checking out the insert, drooling over trinkets of lyrics and music-god oddities. It makes me feel like a member. And, I need this because nobody else will let me be a member. I'm a lonely person; this membership makes my life worthwhile. (I'm not that bad off, but I like to give myself a pity party now and then.) But, you know what I really hate? Paying $16 for a shitty CD. That makes me want to revoke my membership and rub the CD on raw beef and give it to my dog.
With a few digital samples, I'm able to weed through the junk and be more precise about my spending. In the end, I end up spending more. This is what the music industry doesn't seem to get.
Before I was able to taste-test music online, I'd be very reluctant to spend my money at the record store. Face it, I'd been burned too many times with a shit CD: A band would release a catchy single, I'd run out and buy the CD, and then I'd learn the other 10 tracks blow. This experience taught me to wait. I'd wait until I heard a rockin' CD with friends. I'd wait until a few more singles were released. I'd wait to read or hear a reputable band review. Sometimes, I'd wait so damn long, my excitement turned elsewhere and the band was put on my "will buy later" list. Say goodbye to spending my money right away. The industry and the band lost their moment of opportunity. In those days, I spent less money on CDs. So, the industry argument on how digital downloads and sharing carves out CD profits is complete bullshit.
Maybe it's time to go completely digital. Maybe it's time for everybody to get on board with record companies like Cordless Records. Total Internet sales, marketing, and distribution--worldwide. No more concentration on the production of CDs. Fans can burn to their hearts desire after their purchase without creepy protection devices or additional fees. What's more, with companies like Cordless Records, bands retain ownership of their masters and copyrights. Sure, right now the "success" of a band is still measured by how many CDs are sold, but how long will that last? Times are a'changin, and traditional record companies will feel the backdraft when the weights fall in favor of online music.
posted by tanagrame @ 1:20 PM
4 Comments:
I'm the same way...I'm more likely to buy the CD after hearing a couple of online tracks. I've bought all my CDs in the last year after hearing multiple songs on the internet, and I've bought more CD's in the last year than the previous two years combined.
...but the paranoid troll in the corner of my mind is telling me that big record companies want you to be suckered into buying crap...that is their bread & butter...one song's good, gamble on the rest.
In my opinion, consumers have just become smarter & more selective than that.
Excellent points.
I stopped buying CDs after my mother-in-law cut her own Country/Celine Dion CD and gave them out as Christmas gifts. Lost my faith in the whole system at that point.
I NEED to know what I'm buying first...and since I don't hang out with my girlfriends for slumber parties any more, (and my kids aren't going to sit quietly in Borders while I listen through ten hot new CDs) online sampling has been great.
Screw them...They're so blipping greedy!! How much money do these people need??? It's like pizza places charging for breadstick sauce now. Incredible! What's next...ten cents for public toilet paper?
Sorry.
Whew.
Calming down.
Where have you Michiganders been???
*Sorry about Ford. I hope no one you know got hit with the blow.
Been thinking of you!
This carries over into movies, I think. It seems like with the advent of Internet downloading, Blue Ray discs will become passe before they've gotten a chance to be as omnipresent as DVDs.
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