I am an IT consultant who recently read that the RIAA is trying to shut down file sharing on the internet. This, to me, seems bogus and un-pragmatic. The internet is opening opportunities for many industries, including the recording industry. Rather than waste effort and money on clamping down this type of activity, why doesn't management at the various record companies realize that the technology is here to stay, and that there is greater profit in its use than its closure. File sharing is a symptom or a signal that the industry should pick up on and profit from rather than go against the current on this issue. These companies such as Kazaa and Audiogalaxy.com have access to a wide market audience, and I am sure they could arrive at strategic alliances with these companies rather than shut them down only to resurface in a different form later (given technology nowadays and the number of techonology savy people out there, they'll find a way). Maybe sell individual songs at 15 to 25 cents (or whatever, the possibilites are endless) and everyone is happy. Recording companies profit and have access to an online, international market, file-sharing companies remain and also profit, and consumers benefit by customizing their own products at lower, more affordable prices. If management fails to realize that technology is here and industries are going to change because of it, and they fail to envision ways of using this technology to benefit the consumer and company, then replace them, and find more pragmatic people to run the company. The point is to take advantage of technology, not resist it. It's the 21st century, you need people with vision at these recording companies, not people comfortable with the status quo who are far from innovators.
Comments
Technology???
If you think the internet as it's been , will be the paradigm of the future..you are mistaken.
1.It will be taxed in the near future...all governments are workin on the way to do this.
2. Microsoft is developing next generation computers with encryption, etc. built in.
Eventually we will move away from this "wild west" that the internet has been. A little fun will go away with the regulation, but it is necessary to make the hard expensive work of many people and companies not be stolen.
Then we can move to a fast/om demand envorment where artists and there fans can meet and transact without the timelag of making "hard" product, etc.
As bad as things are now only means were going to have another boom sometime in the future,
There is a general view that file-sharing kills business for software companies and record labels however there is a big difference between actual ORGANISED piracy -- the copying and selling of fake CDs, DVDs, whatever at markets and such, which is a big problem here in the UK -- and people swapping files. There are people I know who have started out using cracks of software, and eventually bought the full package, or downloaded a song out of curiosity and ended up buying the album. People think that this is a minority but does anybody actually know how much revenue is GENERATED in this way by fileswapping networks? Also there are people that download music because they can, but would never have bought the album anyway - so in real, practical terms that is not lost revenue for the labels, because if there was no internet or whatever that revenue would not have existed anyway. The people who steal music/software FOR THE PURPOSE OF RESALE/PROFIT should definitely be targeted by organisations like the RIAA, but the average file-swapper should not be lumped in along with them. Before everybody flames me I'm not saying that it's necessarily right to swap files, I'm just saying there's more than one phenomenon at work here, and a simple "ITS STEALING, PERIOD" point of view (which the RIAA seems to adopt) will never approach a resolution to the problem, because like the original poster said you can't fight the technology. As for the encryption stuff, time will tell I guess, but the biggest stumbling block to that is basic market forces - with so many hardware/software companies, and the endless permutations of old/new equipment, how will any new standard be compatible with everything?
sonunospayasos,
I do agree with to some extent. Yes we can not prevent technology from advancing and yes we should take advantage what is out there (eg. online song trading, etc). I know too that there is a way to profit from these types of sites and this technology, we just have to be inventive and figure out a way. There are web companies out there that do help the recording industry sell albums and songs....amazon.com is a great example.
What I do not agree with is companies that "provide a way to share mp3's amd wav's" and such. To me it is just like steeling. You wont find any producer, artist, record label or studio putting together an "online file sharing" program that allows songs, and videos to be traded. Why?.....because it is our time, our effort and our hard work that we put into these recordings. To sit here and watch people trade songs, burn cd's at no cost, thats what hurts the industry. If I wanted, I could go download Kaza and get the entire Pink Floyd-The Wall album and burn it onto cd for no cost. If you want that cd......go buy it, thats how I see it. See what people are doing now is just like walking into a record store with 2 friends, they all take the (ex.)"californication" cd off the shelf and go to the register. The first one of the three buys the cd and the other two walk out of the store with the other 2 coppies unpaid for. WRONG!! They would be arrested for shoplifting! Its the same thing with the internet, just because someone else bought the rights to play and listen to that cd doesnt give them or anyone else the right to copy it. It is illegal.
Lets just say that everyone did play by the rules (fat chance, but hey...). Lets say that person A went out and bought their favorite artists cd. Person B meets person A online, person B says hey, you have that album I want, just send that to me via mail...here is my address. Now "playing by the rules" person A would no longer have a copy of that cd, therefore he wouldnt be able to listen to his music and would have to go and PURCHASE another album. If this were real life (and playing by the rules) person A would tell person B to go and screw himself with a rusty screw driver and some wood glue. Catch my point?
In retrospect what I am getting at is that it is not alright to duplicate audio or video without purchasing the rights (cd, dvd, whatever the medium). Any company that aids or assits in that process should be prosecuted just as someone steeling the cd from the store should. I also understand what you are saying about using technology to our advantage, yes that is wonderfull. If there is a way, it will be found, if it is found it will be used and if it is used PROPERLY then there is $$ to be made and everyone is happy. Like I said in the first paragraph, there are companies out there like Amazon.com that do it properly and make a ton more money than a Kaza or a Napster. Look at all of the sponsors and trade that goes on there at Amazon.com.
I didnt mean to go on and on about this topic, but I am going through a case of my own right now where a producer sold a mixed instrumental track of mine for a great deal of money and decided he wanted to keep it all to himself. So this kind of thing bugs me....it costs lots of money.
Derek
Dimension Records