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Originally Posted by Adult Lounge - Brad
The grocery store example does not translate to the Music industry where the cost of production is relatively low these days if we are talking about production. The act of recording songs would take place if recorded music is sold or otherwise as it is a necessary step in the songwriting process. If I steal food at the grocery store I have physically taken something and not paid for it whereas when you download a song you do not have the physical product (the album with artwork the cd or record) what you have is a relatively poor quality copy of it no different from copying a movie on VHS back a few years ago.
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something you can hold in your hand vs. something that is on your computer/IPod... they are both product. They are both taken without being paid for.
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The main problem is that artists no longer really need the industry to support them as they can do everything by themselves over the internet at a very low cost which Radiohead is about to prove (and Pearl Jam already did by selling their live shows for $10 for a digital download). The record companies are just not too happy about this fact and are trying their hardest to stay in business. Their great plan to accomplish this is by suing the people who are supporting their artists.
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They are proving and disproving at the same time. You cannot say that just because RadioHead and PearlJam were successful that others will be as well. The industry helps to protect all artists.. not just some. They bought into it when they got their start, and now that they are huge.. they wish to get away from it. But they must still respect the system.
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Bands make their money mostly through touring and merchandise sold at those events. They make very little on the actual album. So downloading songs and telling your friends about a band is actually helping them because it means the difference of doing a small tour at small venues or doing a bigger one at larger venues. And it also gets people like me who like to collect to buy the album. For example, this summer I saw Dispatch. They rose in popularity because of Napster. They never sold that many albums and haven't made a record since 2000. Yet they were able to sell out MSG for three nights in a matter of minutes. So there is just one example of p2p helping out artists.
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I do not make my money by seeding the world with my product and then inviting them to exclusive events. My product is sold just as a loaf of bread is sold.. you buy it.. you consume it. Music works the same way.. although they do have the added aspect of live performances. not all products work that way. A book couldn't work that way. Could JK Rowling have made the billions if she gave away all her books and charged for individual readings by her? LMAO.. of course not.
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On to Myspace...why do you think bands are so active on there and put up songs for us to listen to? Because radio is all but dead (because of Clear Channel) and MTV and MuchMusic choose to play reality TV instead of music. So where are bands supposed to promote themselves? Why do you think NIN and Prince are also giving away albums for free? Because they understand that for them getting their material out there is more important than making sales off of it (so they can sell out huge arenas and stadiums).
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myspace, etc etc. are great for bands that aren't known but want to be, or bands that want to get away from the controls within the industry. Once they are big enough, they want the money as well. no one wants to make a product for free. You make the point that NIN and Prince give it away so they can sell out arenas. Sure.. makes sense for their product. Does not make sense for all products, nor does it make sense for all artists.
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This is not an argument that is going to be won by either side. But it is a changing of the guard and that much is obvious. It's like any industry that goes through change for any number of reasons...you have to adapt or risk going out of business.
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Adaptation is understandable.. but not adapting to thievery. If creating product for free ultimately wins out then fine, that's the new business model, but there are a lot of creators on the other side fighting it tooth and nail and will be for a long time. A few success stories such as Pearl Jam does not represent an entire industry or copyright issues on the whole