2003.04.28
2003.04.28
well now, 10 days. i think that’s a record for this journal. i’m sure skooz will be jumping for joy that i’m posting something! hopefully it will be enough to maintain her -and everyone else’s- reader loyalty!
part of the problem is that for the past month i haven’t been having many deep thoughts. at least none while i’m here at night sitting in front of my computer.
recently, though, i’ve been thinking about the bloody RIAA and the music industry in general. sunday while helping clean up ann’s house from the birthday party the night before for sharone and derek we talked about how hard it is for musicians to make money in the music business. then today apple announced iTunes 4 and a deal with many of the recording industry giants to help sort out this BS with filesharing networks and the RIAA’s stick up their arse. the essence of the deal is that using iTunes a user can purchase individual songs for 99 cents (so someone makes money) that the user can then use somewhat liberally like making a CD (making consumers happy).
99 cents really isn’t much to pay for a song these days. a 10 song album would cost just under 10 USD which is actually cheaper than most out there anymore.
still, i can’t help but think that in the end the musicians are still the ones getting screwed. i posted this article on OOKEE.com. basically it says that the hottest selling band could still make very little (in their example about 40K USD) while the record company makes tons. is this fair? is this right?
no.
musicians make most of their money through live performances and merchandising. this is their porridge. the best thing the recording industry does for them is the marketing which doesn’t have much rivalry in the small independents. however, this is an *internet* age. surely the web could get things kicking for a band by way of promotion, and if the band released their music free of charge on the web people might be inclined to go see them or buy their CD directly from the band.
think about it… the band i am nominally with, Not Bill, could record music of near professional quality here on software already owned, convert that to MP3 format and put it on a somewhat hip website and start promoting it on the web through various channels like BBSes, music blogs, etc. if apple is smart they will set up a program that allows individual bands to use their distribution system as well; more profit this way for the band and apple this way, and skipping the RIAA and their cronies (kindly called “middlemen”) entirely.
distribution. this is a great part of what is a danger to the current music industry. they are so tied into music distribution and marketing they would suffer huge losses (according to their bottom line). they try to force congress to pass laws inhibiting the thing the internet does so well; distribution of information (music in this case).
the deal with apple and iTunes really is an interesting compromise between the RIAA (and their ilk) and the internet as a concept and reality. in the end it doesn’t help the musicians one freaking bit, but it points a way through and on that hopefully the slow learners in the established media can learn from and eventually embrace.
Categorized: apple audio thoughts
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