Music Industry and the Future (part 2)
Okay, well this was a topic started by B. Love awhile back to which I never properly replied...
The future is here, the future is now. iTMS has already sold over 300 million songs and will soon replace Wal-Mart as the largest music retailer in the world. The iPod is on track to be the best selling consumer electronic device in history. Sony announced last week of their plans to open an "iTunes for movies." Digital music is here to stay, digital movies will explode within the next two years so kiss your shiny 5" discs goodbye. I hardly ever purchase "physical" music anymore, it's to expensive and it's a hassle. There are a lot of people like me, but even more that aren't.
CDs are still by far the most popular choice for the masses; when the masses catch on, what services will they use and how much money can corporations make. The big players are setting precedents for when the Ma and Pa Idaho's of the world make the switch. Legal battles have been going on for 100's of years over technology and copyright. It's unlikely they'll stop anytime soon.
The RIAA and MPAA are fighting for tight restrictions on how digital content can be distributed and consumed. Activists for freedom of information are fighting back by deliberately breaking their encryption and distributing the hacks for free. Corporations retaliate with lawsuits and after the courtroom battles the precedents are set, and not always in favor of the corporations.
Jon Johansen (DVD Jon) is the most famous of these activists. As a 16 year old he broke the encryption that comes standard on DVDs (De-CSS). Most recently he has broken the encryption on iTMS files and created a version of the store where you can buy and download the songs without any kind of DRM (Digital Rights Management or as Johansen calls it Digital Restriction Management). He believes information wants to be free (not free as in monetary but free as in freedom). After 3 years in court he was cleared of all charges which set a huge precedent (in his country).
As information becomes more fluid, easier to copy and distribute, it seems evident that information wants to be free. Distributors of digital content will continue to research and develop new ways to restrict the flow of information while individuals will continue to break these restrictions once again freeing the work.
Just because there is a tradition of making money a certain way does not mean there is any law that protects that tradition. Record companies are reinventing themselves so artists will still want to go to them and consumers will still by there recordings. Now they are marketing companies, glorified public relation firms, really. There is no longer a need for their recording equipment or even their distribution, just the image of the musicians they spoon feed the public. Record Companies don't need copyrights to ensure they exist. They need innovation.
With the invention of the printing press writers often found themselves victims of theft. Their ideas were stolen and they were left penny-less. Publishers were abusing writers. Then came the laws known as copyrights. Copyrights were originally intended to protect the short term interest of the artists and ultimately after 10-25 years all information was to become public. Over the last 50 years lawmakers and lobbyists have twisted these laws and the public opinion of copyrights. They have made copyrights practically infinite and they now protect "content owners" not creators. Once again publishers are abusing artists, now the laws are on their side.
The class system within the world of artists is quite polarized. Very few artists receive attention, fame, glory and wealth. Most live in poverty and eventually give up for a day job. Freedom of information combined with lower costs of creating content could help to create a new social class of artists. The artist that creates in the basement, sells on the internet and makes an honest living. In effect the middle class artist replaces the starving artist. Keeping the systems of information distribution exclusive to corporations allows the companies to continue to abuse artists.
Abraham Lincoln was "for both the man and the dollar; but in cases of conflict, the man before the dollar." Lawmakers are forgetting they need to be protecting the rights of the citizens, artists and consumers not the greed of lobbyists and corporations.
The future is here, the future is now. iTMS has already sold over 300 million songs and will soon replace Wal-Mart as the largest music retailer in the world. The iPod is on track to be the best selling consumer electronic device in history. Sony announced last week of their plans to open an "iTunes for movies." Digital music is here to stay, digital movies will explode within the next two years so kiss your shiny 5" discs goodbye. I hardly ever purchase "physical" music anymore, it's to expensive and it's a hassle. There are a lot of people like me, but even more that aren't.
CDs are still by far the most popular choice for the masses; when the masses catch on, what services will they use and how much money can corporations make. The big players are setting precedents for when the Ma and Pa Idaho's of the world make the switch. Legal battles have been going on for 100's of years over technology and copyright. It's unlikely they'll stop anytime soon.
The RIAA and MPAA are fighting for tight restrictions on how digital content can be distributed and consumed. Activists for freedom of information are fighting back by deliberately breaking their encryption and distributing the hacks for free. Corporations retaliate with lawsuits and after the courtroom battles the precedents are set, and not always in favor of the corporations.
Jon Johansen (DVD Jon) is the most famous of these activists. As a 16 year old he broke the encryption that comes standard on DVDs (De-CSS). Most recently he has broken the encryption on iTMS files and created a version of the store where you can buy and download the songs without any kind of DRM (Digital Rights Management or as Johansen calls it Digital Restriction Management). He believes information wants to be free (not free as in monetary but free as in freedom). After 3 years in court he was cleared of all charges which set a huge precedent (in his country).
As information becomes more fluid, easier to copy and distribute, it seems evident that information wants to be free. Distributors of digital content will continue to research and develop new ways to restrict the flow of information while individuals will continue to break these restrictions once again freeing the work.
Just because there is a tradition of making money a certain way does not mean there is any law that protects that tradition. Record companies are reinventing themselves so artists will still want to go to them and consumers will still by there recordings. Now they are marketing companies, glorified public relation firms, really. There is no longer a need for their recording equipment or even their distribution, just the image of the musicians they spoon feed the public. Record Companies don't need copyrights to ensure they exist. They need innovation.
With the invention of the printing press writers often found themselves victims of theft. Their ideas were stolen and they were left penny-less. Publishers were abusing writers. Then came the laws known as copyrights. Copyrights were originally intended to protect the short term interest of the artists and ultimately after 10-25 years all information was to become public. Over the last 50 years lawmakers and lobbyists have twisted these laws and the public opinion of copyrights. They have made copyrights practically infinite and they now protect "content owners" not creators. Once again publishers are abusing artists, now the laws are on their side.
The class system within the world of artists is quite polarized. Very few artists receive attention, fame, glory and wealth. Most live in poverty and eventually give up for a day job. Freedom of information combined with lower costs of creating content could help to create a new social class of artists. The artist that creates in the basement, sells on the internet and makes an honest living. In effect the middle class artist replaces the starving artist. Keeping the systems of information distribution exclusive to corporations allows the companies to continue to abuse artists.
Abraham Lincoln was "for both the man and the dollar; but in cases of conflict, the man before the dollar." Lawmakers are forgetting they need to be protecting the rights of the citizens, artists and consumers not the greed of lobbyists and corporations.
posted by James Harris at 3:08 PM
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