Hi Richard!
(I notice you didn't reply to the Backstage mailing list, perhaps
in error?)
On 02/02/07, Richard P Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I totally agree that DRM is not a complete answer, but neither is
giving it all away for nothing.
Copyright was originally an industrial regulation on printers, and I
see no reason why it cannot continue as an industrial regulation. The
public now have copying machines. It is impossible to change that
fact, and unethical to deny it. Copyright law as it is today is
totally broken by this, in as much as it treats the public in an
unjust way.
But business is adaptable (even if some businesses are not...) and the
public is a relatively small market.
Let me try and break down "Giving it all away for nothing"...
"Giving." If you put up a micropayment (ie, paypal) tip jar and put
good copywriters to task on making good 'sales' copy and include those
words everywhere they are appropriate, you'll find that people like to
give back to things that they appreciate.
"it all." Although a poor quality version on YouTube available the day
it is finished is good enough for a lot of people, that is not the
whole thing. The thing is spread out across time and space. Physical
containers of the work - collectors editions and top
packaging/mechandise - are still worth paying for. I have never
bought a DVD for myself, because I've only ever downloaded films, but
I've bought a load as presents for other people. A burnt off CD
doesn't quite do the same trick :-)
"away." It is true that you don't have as much control as you used to,
and that the public will inevitably end up remixing what you did with
something else, and maybe even making some money off all the ads on
their webpage when their remix becomes popular. You're never going to
see any of that cash, but, as an industrial regulation, copyright can
still work. An Ad agency, for example, won't be able to get away with
using your work like that, without getting a copyright license.
"for nothing." Don't confuse no money with no thing. What you get by
allowing people to fileshare is 'mindshare' or 'social capital.' Ask
PR companies about how valuable that can be.
I think that all paid knowledge work will become custom work, paid for
because someone wants something done for them for another purpose. Ie,
moving from a profit center in its own industry to a cost center of
another industry. This is fuelled mainly by the falling costs not only
of the costs of distribution, but of production. Everyone becomes a
producer of all every kind of information once the tools and time to
know the tools become cheaply/widely available enough.
-- 8< --
1. Playing live. You can never replicate a live show so this is great
for fans, artists and managers. At a certain point you can make a
fortune. Major record companies are now trying to get a piece of
bands' live incomes as they realise they are on the wrong hobby horse.
2. Merchandise. If it's good it will sell.
3. Synchs. You get paid loads for putting your music on adverts and
films.
4. A record deal. You still need one but it's an engine room for the
rest of the business.
-- 8< --
- http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/01/
if_you_want_to_get_ahead_get_a.html
Perhaps I can make money selling bikes.
Depends how good your chinese is... :-) Selling non-technologisable
consumables like freshly prepared food is probably your best bet :-)
If, in 20 years time, there is not enough money to be made in 'content
creation,' because the price of production and distribution have
fallen so far that everyone is not only famous for 10 minutes but is
their own media magnate, then it will be a shame that $100m films are
not made any more.
Kind of like it is a shame that massive, massive landscape paintings
of the countryside are not made any more, because photography killed
painting about 100 years ago.
People still do business, and we still have Art, and even a few Art
Stars still obtaining mega patronage.
There will always be plenty of ways to make money.
<Snip>
Most people will be helpless to do anything about that, other
than
> feel bad about themselves for not understanding whats going on and
> thinking computers are shit.
This happens to most people I know that use Windows, on a regular
basis.! :-)
This is a real shame - I find work for myself helping people like this
discover free software :-)
With any popular GNU+Linux distribution, there are lively online
communities of users who will explain what went wrong, and how to
avoid it. Mailing lists, web forums, chatrooms, so on. The world can
be a friendly place :-)
So, any other options? How about an attached "cookie", or can I tag
an mp3 file.... that allows me to know where my files are on the net,
be it music or video.....
Such spying is clearly of interest to advertisers, but its just not
possible. Well, files on the public net is perhaps possible.
If you 'tag' your music, you can use search engines to find it more
easily. And if you run the BitTorrent tracker yourself, you can get
statistics on its use.
But these are just vague indicators of real use: If I download a music
file and transfer it to my portable player, and then from that to a
friends computer, you'll never know.
I could play for hours watching their
journey around the world on Google Earth, watching all my "users"
enjoying my gift.
This is so passive... Wouldn't it be better to be conversing with your
fanbase on a messageboard like the BBC is doing with the Backstage
mailing list? :-)
--
Regards,
Dave
