> On Saturday 04 December 2004 09:02 pm, Jared Anderson wrote:
> > I believe those with good products, ideas, or inventions will be rewarded
> > regardless of copyright laws (or Kazaa) if what they offer is truly
> > unique and superior.
>
> I agree to some extent.  The market likes good stuff and votes with
> dollars.
>
> > I think society evolves how it wishes, and
> > regardless of what the RIAA wants, they will have to evolve too if they
> > wish to survive.
>
I'm finding this discussion fascinating and elucidating. It's making me think 
of how the Dave Matthews Band has set up its' business model from its' 
inception. This is a little OT, but demonstrates what you're talking about.

DMB does things very differently from most bands, and are consequently far 
more successful than most bands. They've always allowed fans in the audience 
to tape their live performances and distribute those recordings free of 
charge. They used to let tapers to plug into their soundboard, but stopped 
that when people started selling those recordings. The band asks that people 
not sell their live shows, but always give them away. They don't like 
filesharing, but prefer people actually mail the disks to each other to keep 
it personal. They ask that people BUY their studio-recordings, and not make 
copies of those to give away. 

The fans spread the free music around and it increases their fan base. Because 
people like what they hear, they're more likely to buy tickets to shows and 
buy their albums when they get released. 

When they were negotiating their first recording contract with RCA, RCA wanted 
to put a stop to the live taping. The band refused and RCA gave in. They've 
continued to allow taping and are consistently one of the top three grossing 
bands in the world (with U2 and the Stones.)

This year, they started making some of their best shows available for download 
for a price. These are soundboard recordings which are better quality than 
most tapers can pull. They're marketing these shows directly, bypassing the 
recording company.

Basically, fans respond to the band's talent and generosity by generously 
giving money back to the band. Some people cheat and sell the live shows over 
Ebay, or distribute them as MP3s over the net, but overall it's a hugely 
successful business model. If a lot of artists adopt this model, it will 
force a change in the recording industry. 

Sorry if I've bored anyone with this.

Siri Amrit

PS. If anybody wants some DMB shows, contact me off-list and we can set up a 
B&P (burn & postage).





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