> 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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