Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbie
I'm not seeing that. And how can there be "exceptions"? Either people have money or they don't.
I go out all the time here in Vegas. Every bar is slammed on the weekends. And I'm not just talking about tourist stuff on the strip. I'm talking local bars.
Every restaurant is packed. And again, I'm not talking about "fancy" joints. I'm talking Macaroni Grill. lol
I've said this before in several threads. I played music for a living for most of my life. And the worst recession any of us had seen in our lifetimes before happened in the late 1970's (Carter years) up until the early 1980's. And on top of the recession was a horrendous "gas shortage"
It was depressing! Here are some unemployment numbers for you...
1982-11 10.80 10.8
1982-12 10.80 10.8
1983-01 10.40 10.4
1983-02 10.40 10.4
1983-03 10.30 10.3
1983-04 10.20 10.2
1983-05 10.10 10.1
1983-06 10.10 10.1
1983-07 9.40
1983-08 9.50
1983-09 9.20
And the bars? We were SLAMMED! My band never had a night off and we were making big money at that time. 7 nights a week, 5 sets a night.
As for the movie industry now...they just set a record with Avatar. All those "Twilight" movies have come out during this recession and all made fortunes. And of course both Iron Man movies, the Transformer movies...the list goes on and on and on.
My point is...people DO have some income for recreation. They always do in a time of recession. They may not pay the bills on time, but they always have their beer and cigarettes. 
They always did and they always will. And we wouldn't be affected to a great degree by this thing...except for piracy.
ONE DOLLAR A DAY gets you a paysite membership. Going to the movies with the wife and kids costs you $100 for a couple of hours.
But people do it.
Now you open a movie theater in every town in America and show those same movies for free? The movie industry will crash.
The computer IS our movie theater when it comes to online porn biz. And that is what is happening to us. I can't sell memberships to paysites that are completely ripped for free AND everybody knows where to download it thanks to surfer porn forums.
It really is just that simple.
Let the economy come roaring back tomorrow. Let there be 0% unemployment.
It won't matter. People aren't stupid. And they aren't going to pay for something that is free.
That is why I still make good sales everyday on the paysite I own. And others...not so much. |
Robbie, I have enormous respect for you and I'm not saying piracy is not a problem, but I think the economy is a bigger one.
You may have gone to some events in Nevada which made money, but
Nevada leads the nation in unemployment. I used to go to Vegas pretty often, and I always got the nice suite and the high end dining etc., but skipping those trips is a really easy belt-tightener. Because I used to spend there, I'm on all the mailing lists for those things, and they are all on super-sale right now. The hotels and restaurants would not be offering huge discounts if everything were going awesome for them.
Even with piracy, many people will pay for content they like. Even savvy people who could figure out how to steal it easily. For example, if you are never going to a particular restaurant again, the good service you got does have to cost you anything extra, but I bet you still tip appropriately. But a lot of people are more likely to steal -- both bread and entertainment -- when they have fiscal woes.
In the movie industry, some people have hit upon great formulas to get good box office on a particular movie. But, on the overall, approximately 100 fewer theatrical releases are coming out per year than there were a couple years ago. Although a few people have done well, on the overall, that represents a lot of people out of work and a lot of budgets slashed.
Is it still possible to make some dough? Definitely yes. Are the larger economic problems -- unemployment, underemployment, contraction of consumer credit markets, contraction of business capital markets,
1 in 8 Americans on Food Stamps which can't be used to purchase entertainment -- big obstacles to making that dough? I think also definitely yes.