How will producers and studios get <i>paid</i>?
Zadi brought up a fairly common question in her response to Steve's question about THE CODE, and I don't really think it truly belongs there, in a response. It really belongs to be a centerpiece topic, one that can't be shirked away from, one that really has good minds attacking it.
That question: "how do producers and studios make money if people can just "take" it without paying"?
There's an inherent assumption in this question: it assumes that people will simply "take" it if they can take it without paying for it. This assumption is, by the way, the reason why the RIAA member organizations assume that all of their customers are criminals -- they assume that because they can, that they will. We've seen the futility of this, and the damage that it causes. We've seen the DMCA pass, we've seen more people become felons simply because of this -- treat people like criminals, and people become criminals.
So what's an alternative that would work?
I have ideas, but I want to hear yours first.
That question: "how do producers and studios make money if people can just "take" it without paying"?
There's an inherent assumption in this question: it assumes that people will simply "take" it if they can take it without paying for it. This assumption is, by the way, the reason why the RIAA member organizations assume that all of their customers are criminals -- they assume that because they can, that they will. We've seen the futility of this, and the damage that it causes. We've seen the DMCA pass, we've seen more people become felons simply because of this -- treat people like criminals, and people become criminals.
So what's an alternative that would work?
I have ideas, but I want to hear yours first.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by ILLUS on -
People will always steal...but wouldn't it help a little if we all earned a decent wage doing something we loved and companies didn't mark up their products so high for profits that they actually cost what they were worth? Seriously...look at music and movies...some chain outlets still sell cd's and dvd's for 15 and up? In 2007 that is utterly ridiculous. It cost mere pennies to mass produce this crap and there is very little heart and soul put into any of it to make it a worthwhile purchase when bills have to be paid and gas is ridiculously high.
1. Level the economic ballfield so everyone can share in the wealth. Do studio execs and corporate execs really deserve to make so much compared to the assembly line workers and so on?
2. Stop churning out so much crap and actually put out quality work that people will want to invest their hard earned dollars into.
3. Another idea is stop selling the concept of ownership because when you buy something you don't really own it. I've been busying music since vinyl and I have the same albums on tape, cd and so on...Why should I have to keep buying the same songs over and over? And maybe studios would make more money if they didn't sell DVD's at all. Instead sell the EXPERIENCE...force people to go into theatres and watch movies where you can control them. Now that is golden. Eliminate the chain dealers and open more theatres and interactive venues where people can go see artists perfom music or see movies in more comfortable situations or play video games in arena like environments. You'd have them coming back for more and more, actually leaving their homes to do shit rather than staying in and veggitating. This would boost teh economy in so many ways. I am sick of the idea of ownership as if it is some need to feel godlike...wewant to own merchandise, pets, land and even people....I personally am sick of collecting mass amounts of crap that I own...I want to get rid of it all!
Ok..I'm typed out...
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Permalink Reply by Rick Rey on -
Cut out the middle men and create a system where artists can easily produce and distribute their own material.
Educate artists before they sign deals and make it big.
Do away with DRM in all forms.
Dismantle the RIAA.
She Clearchannel for unfair business practices (antitrust)
There are just a few ideas...
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Permalink Reply by Kyle H on
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There's http://www.tunecore.com/ for the 'easily distribute' part. But what about production? Someone who knows their equipment and how to properly bring out the best qualities of a sound is still worth their weight in gold.
Educating artists before signing deals and making it big -- Courtney Love did a presentation on this which was published over on salon.com, but I haven't seen anything more thorough. (This can be found at http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/index.html -- but it's from back in 2000.)
The rest... that's what I'm trying to find a way to do. But I'm not dictator, I can't wave my hand to make it happen. Only the various other people can make it happen, and only when properly educated.
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Permalink Reply by Flamekebab on -
Personally, I love seeing films at the cinema, however, I like the convenience of having files on my laptop to view at my leisure. I don't like having to put in discs, it's a barrier between me and the content. Not a big one, yes, but it annoys me.
For me, paid for content should be high definition, not necessarily "HD" (yes, I know that sounds silly), but of resolution higher than 720x576 (or 720x480 for NTSC films). I'd be willing to buy films for £5 or £6 if they were that size, but anything more is pointless for me becaaause..
I get bored easily of films. I'm unlikely to watch a film more than three or four times, if that.
Less emphasis should be put on "downloading copyrighted content" being some massive drain on their coffers. Oh you made 5 million less? Cry me a godsdamned river.
If they utilise digitised distribution and make it EASY for people to give them money. Arranging FAST servers so I can get the file as quickly as my connection allows and in the format I'd like, then we can talk cash.
The speed thing is important. I'd pay £5 for a film if I could have it quickly. In a couple of months when I get my new flat, I may be able to get a connection as fast as 24Mbit. Even if I can only get 8Mbit, that's 1MB a second. If the film is between 1GB and 2GB and my connection is 8MBit (and their servers are well equipped enough to deliver) then I could have the film in half an hour, give or take ten minutes.
That'd mean I could choose to go to the cinema, OR, I could stay in, pay a fiver, whack a film into the download queue, invite some friends over, have a couple of drinks, or make dinner and by the time that's done, BAM there's the film.
2GB is enough for a decent quality film of normal length. The MPEG2 codec used by DVDs is fairly outdated, there's far more efficient codecs available now. If they were put to use, the system could work wonderfully.
As for music, well I would say deliver content digitally, but sell merchandise, vinyl and of course, TOUR!
Albums, whilst nice, digitally distributed needn't cost so much. Over here, unless you shop around, albums are still expensive, so when did I last buy an album?
Uh..
Erm..
Mmm..
I can't even remember.
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