And there are many business models that could work to compensate creators while allowing their creations to be legally copied. Some artists are doing this now (Jane Siberry is one). She will give you copies of her music and allow you to decide how much compensation is fair (if any), after you have downloaded and listened to it. Interestingly, the suggest price is $1 for people who wish to pay, but the average price paid is about $1.30 - people pay MORE than the suggested price. That tends to kill the idea that people are basically dishonest and if music is free, nobody will ever pay.
A lot of music could be released free, with the file containing a link to a "tip jar", a PayPal account where you can make a donation to show your appreciation and to encourage the artist to create more works. In this model, you would want the music copied and shared as much as possible. If only 1% of people who hear the song decide to donate $1, then getting millions of people to hear the song can earn the artist some serious money. Lots of struggling bands could use this model to establish a fanbase and to find out if there's a market for their talents. The free market will compensate the good artists and ignore the bad ones. Another method is to get paid BEFORE releasing a work. A sort of patronage where somebody pays for the creation, and everyone benefits. This might work for established artists like U2. They could say, "We've got a great new album ready to go, and we'll release it free to the world as soon as $5 million is deposited in this PayPal account. We'll be giving $1 million of that money to fight AIDS in Africa. And anyone who donates more than $100 gets a limited-edition, autographed CD copy, and 2000 of these CD copies will contain front row tickets to one of our shows." I think they would get the $5 million very quickly. All of these methods use creative ways to engage fans and establish emotional as well as financial links to the performer. They empower the fans, not the corporations. And, they pay the artists directly instead of letting middlemen bleed off 90% of the revenue. -- Pale Blue Ego ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pale Blue Ego's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=110 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34928 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
