>>>>> "A" == Aaron J Seigo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>> ... If you have Eminem on your HD, there is _zero_
>> reason to buy the CD, you will get identically the same
>> product.
A> not necessarily true. many people who d/l won't buy no matter
A> what, and some who d/l will buy because of the download
Ok, let's be more direct: How many of the files _you_ have downloaded
have _you_ subsequently purchased? I know I have bought /other/
recordings by artists who's work I have downloaded, and I have
downloaded recordings I already own, but I have not nor have I met
anyone who has downloaded a product for free (music, video or even
software) and then voluntarily gone out an purchased the /identical/
file. If you have, please cite the instance.
But be aware of what I said: A lost sale does /not/ imply a decrease
in revenue. To make that logical jump is a non-sequiteur.
A> janis ian's articles on this have been most insteresting since
A> they come from someone "in the trenches" and show that sharing
A> actually increases sales, at least for artists that aren't in
A> the current top 10 limelight.
And David Kilpatrick's experience was neutral: Releasing his material
for free made him the #4 most downloaded artist (across all
categories) in the UK on MP3.com last month, but it did not result in
a single booking or a single extra sale. David has, I think, a sane
reaction: He's happy that people like his songs and trusts that
the rewards will come. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" is the
pithy aphorism that comes to mind.
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absense, and anecdotes don't
prove a point, and that is why this RIAA thing cannot be resolved by
rhetoric. Where Janis Ian has it right is that someone must actually
stop pontificating and /test/ the hypothesis (and watch out for
efolkmusic.org where I will be involved in an empirical test of Janis'
words)
--
Gary Lawrence Murphy - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - TeleDynamics Communications
- blog: http://www.auracom.com/~teledyn - biz: http://teledyn.com/ -
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." (Picasso)
