[EPrecording]

Originally Posted by blue nine

right...

piracy is not about technological displacement, it's about theft, aided by technology

the recorded music industry is not loosing jobs to better competition... better product, lower prices, etc. we've always had that.

in that example we'd be loosing sales to these guys, and we're not:
http://www.soundclick.com

soundclick represent "open source music" freely given away by people who "develop" it in the own time for their own motives... but that's not what people want.

we're not loosing revenue to people who are making a better competing product available and cheaper than we can make ourselves, we're loosing revenue to people who are making OUR product available cheaper (free actually) than we can - for obvious reasons.

we're also not up in arms about technological displacement. that's what happen to hollywood after WWII when television was introduced. it was a game changer, it displaced a lot of people. same as with films going from silent to talkie.

in each of those cases, a new legitimate model emerged, and there was a true opportunity to adapt to the new model, which worked for others and had proven to be profitable although different.

this is also true of detroit. japanese car makers made smaller, more fuel efficient cars that were also more economical and affordable. detroit made big gas guzzlers that suffered from needing frequent repairs. but detroit could have made cars to compete the japanese. the japanese were not making cadillacs and selling them back to us at half price.

one thing television could not do was air movies, or adapt radio shows to television without negotiating and compensating the copyright holders. the displacement of television drove down the demand for films and the studios suffered. but people could go to television and be writers, directors, musicians, production assistants in that new medium.

with internet piracy, it as if television would have been able to take and broadcast any content that had previously existed without having to compensate those people or pay to create and employ any content creators of their own.

that would be a great model, other people, over several decades, have invested in and built libraries of content that television could have broadcast with no investment cost, while monetizing that content against advertising revenue and corporate sponsorships....

that's what's happening now.

what we have now is a technological disruption, which is fine and actually exciting!.

but more so, we have the wholesale theft of content for the sole benefit of third parties who have made no investment, and make no purchase.

there is no way to adapt, because the disruption is theft and not technological.

the technology only allows for the exploitation and theft, in the same way television as an emerging technology made it possible to "pirate" movies and broadcast them.

but that didn't happen.

laws, and consequences for breaking the laws prevented television from raping the film studio vaults for free content.

no one has the "right" to steal or infringe upon someone else's creative work or labor. I tire of all the rationalizations when in the end, if people couldn't do it without consequence, the majority wouldn't... and really, it's just that simple.

Interesting post. I particularly agree that it is interesting times.

But how have you come to all these conclusions? Just to make it clear, I am not trying to rationalize theft in any degree. It is wrong and I want to make that clear. What I object to, are those against piracy who have rationalized the effect of piracy in monetary amounts when the grounds to do so do not exist. I suspect they are in for a surprise when piracy is enforced, yet the bank balances barely change.

Back to the question, how have you come to all these conclusions? Mainly regarding the internet and the music industry? I have considerable trouble rationalizing something like the internet. We haven't just experienced change in piracy. The internet has literally revolutionized the world including retail markets and distribution tactics.

For example, today I stumbled on a link in John Scrip's signature here on this forum for his Massive Mastering business. Looks nice! I've never used it, but nice samples, good prices... much cheaper than my local mastering engineers. If I use him though, my local guys loses work.

My point? If that local mastering engineer is you, than you lose a sale. Yet the industry hasn't lost a sale. It did lose some money, as I paid less for mastering though. Competition still runs rampant within the music industry, and the effect that the internet has had on it is absolutely mind-boggling. It has literally made the industry smaller, in a geographical sense. There is every chance that you as an individual are losing a sale to someone else. Someone else whose music is considered better. Higher quality. More appealing based on the consumer themselves. Will this be outlined in industry figures? No, because it is still money in the industry. As far as I am aware, prices, distribution, etc have all changed as well since the occurrence of internet music retail. Marketing has changed, particularly on an individual level. This isn't just restricted to the music industry either. It has changed the face of this Earth and the functions and habits of the majority of people on this planet. I certainly wouldn't say the technology only allows for exploitation and theft.

Is piracy bad? Yes. Has the internet effected piracy? Yes, of course. As did the tape recorder. Cassette recorder, CD burner... But anyone claiming to know the true effects of the internet on music and piracy is a fool. Over the last 20 years, things have changed on such a large scale (ie. The internet), and at such a pace that it is impossible to differentiate the effects of each discrete change.

Just some food for thought. Is the music industry profitable? A decline in profit doesn't mean an industry is making a loss. It is merely an indication of a slowing of momentum; The industry is still running forward, just 12% slower than 2008 (in the US). According to this, it is actually running faster in 13 markets. So who exactly in these 13 markets is losing revenue?

Piracy problems? Music industry grew in 13 markets in 2009


How fast would the industry be running without piracy? Given all the statements about how piracy has destroyed businesses. Destroys artist development and is killing the industry it should be a relatively easy question to answer.

But of course it isn't... and the reason is simple really. The opposite of stealing isn't buying. You either steal it or you don't... It is as simple as that. Assuming it is a lost sale, is just that... assumption and nothing more. The rate of piracy and the rate of sales are totally exclusive from each other... yet they can be totally inclusive as well. On a platform as massive as the internet it is left to total and utter speculation, which a lot of people on this forum have a hard time swallowing.

Naturally so... but it is still just speculation, despite how many attempt to represent it as fact.


It seems so obvious in hindsight, doesn't it. The early notions that the internet would be a place for the free transfer and access of information en masse.