Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 13:10:00 -0000 From: anon@somewhere.net To: mwm@mired.org Cc: brett@lariat.org, rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in, vcardona@home.com, freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Stallman stalls again Message-ID: <200103121308.HAA20629@mail-backup.rcsntx.swbell.net> In-Reply-To: <15020.33581.202339.895997@guru.mired.org>
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[Please forgive the anonymous post, but I am currently doing some work in the music industry, which has been an eye-opening and somewhat disturbing experience.] Mike Meyer wrote: > Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> types: > > > At 11:48 PM 3/11/2001, Mike Meyer wrote: > > >> I think that unbridled theft of copyrighted material is shameful too. > > >So do I. It's clearly illegal and immoral. However, it is *not* > > >causing a major economic dislocation, > > It is, actually. It's impacting the sales of albums and especially > > those of "singles." > > "Impacting sales" is a *long* way from "causing a major economic dislocation". > Get back to me record companies start folding because of it. And if they do fold, so what? 100 years ago the music industry did not exist. There is no legal, moral, or economic mandate that it must still exist 100 years (or even 10 years) from now. Industries come and go all the time. They are born when a new need arises, and they die when that need fades away. The music industry was born around the turn of the century, when it first became possible to create recordings. The problem was that it was expensive to create, duplicate, store and distribute those recordings. So companies were formed to provide those services, for a fee. Over time, those companies consolidated into a proper industry, and eventually completely controlled the distribution channels. With control came greed. Around 50-60 years ago, they discovered mass marketing, and began to invent stars as a means of boosting their income. And over the years, they have resorted to a variety of tactics which have alienated both the creators and consumers of their products. For example, their creative bookkeeping actually makes it possible for an artist to release a hit album that sells millions and still end up owing the label money. They can do this with impunity, because of their absolute control. Then came multimedia PCs and the Internet. Over a period of just a few years, the value of and need for their services dropped to almost nothing. Anyone in the world can record, reproduce, and distribute music, cheaply and easily. The very reason for the existence of the industry has vanished. The only function of value they have remaining is their marketing ability, and even that is in jeopardy. They suddenly find themselves looking extinction in the face. So yes, rampant piracy is wrong. But that's just the fireball from the initial asteroid impact. What's coming along right behind it is a major shift in the climate which may well make it impossible for the dinosaurs to survive (at least in their current form). And if they don't make it, good riddance. We'll all be better off without them. (Sorry about the rant, but I am sick of the harm the industry is causing to society as a whole in its desperate attempts to not become extinct like a good little dinosaur.) To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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