Here is a great article exploring how movie studios have come to recognize the power and utility of fan websites. In the early days of the internet, fan sites were typically smacked down with cease and desist letters (which seems to me to be the mark of doing something right) but now many fan sites are getting tacit and explicit support from directors and movie producers.
This is significant. Denizens of the the internet have long known that the free flow of information is a good thing, even when it may at first glance appear to be detrimental to a product or issue that relies on profit taking. The RIAA's brain-dead approach to dealing with online music sharing indicates what happens when a body gets trapped in the latter manner of thinking. And since CD sales are down, they have a data set they can flout to support their argument.
What is missing from this equation is a recognition that during Napster's heyday, before they got sued, music sales were going up and up annually. Napster was big, and so was sales. Then the music industry started bullying people around and sales tanked. No, I'm not saying that is the sole reason, but I'm fairly confident it was a significant factor. Add in such facts as a downturn in the US economy, the growing popularity of DVDs, the resistance of music producers to reduce prices, the smaller number of titles released by music studios, and an uninspiring line-up of new artists built on the same mold used in the last decade, and the contribution of freely available music files begins to look less malignant. Undoubtedly there are theives who steal music just for the sake of it, but most online music trading isn't done in the spirit of theft or something for nothing. It seems to me that it was more indicative of a public that loves music. Too bad the RIAA didn't see it that way.
Etree is a good example of what happens when musicians embrace free music. Thousands of bands allow fans to tape their live performances and trade them freely (they stipulate no commercial use). This enamors fans to the bands and helps to generate interest. I have abotu 500 live concerts, maybe 50 different artists. Of that list, I had only heard of and listened to maybe 7 or 8 of the artists; etree exposed to me to so much more great stuff. Now I listen to these bands, buy their gear and albums, go to their shows. Free exposure works.
Another good example of how freely available information doesn't have to hurt the economics of distribution. The Matrix: Reloaded was available for download via BitTorrent prior to its release, and lots and lots of people downloaded it. But it still did very very well at the box office, didn't it?
As unintuitive as it seems, the more open we can keep the internet and society, the more robust and healthy it will be.
And that's a good thing.
Posted by Nutrimentia at June 30, 2003 11:28 AM | TrackBack