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Music Media Your Rights Online

The Recording Industry's Failed Digital Strategy 227

An anonymous reader sends us a link to the Toronto Star, where Michael Geist has a terrific article on how the record labels got the Internet completely wrong. While somewhat specific to Canada, the article' arguments are more broadly applicable. The article links together the misplaced reliance on DRM and the Canadian industry's advocacy for increasing levies on blank media to demonstrate just how wrong-headed this strategy has turned out to be.
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The Recording Industry's Failed Digital Strategy

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  • Network providers (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MichaelSmith ( 789609 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @09:36PM (#18076036) Homepage Journal

    TFA:

    Indeed, there are better solutions out there - levies tied to network providers make more sense (and are already replicated by cable television levies for retransmission of content) - and there is a need to cover both peer-to-peer and the non-commercial use of content in user-generated content.

    So now what? A tax on internet access? Charging per port?

    • '' So now what? A tax on internet access? Charging per port? ''

      That would be stupid. A very simple method: You can rent either "internet access" or "internet access with music/video download license". The "music/video download license" goes straight to the RIAA/MPAA and gets distributed somehow. And it allows you to download, store and play any music or videos as long as you pay for this license. Should the RIAA try to sue you for downloading from Kazaa, you just send them a copy of your ISP bill that inclu
      • by Dion ( 10186 )
        That makes perfect sense and everybody would be happy with it, so it will never happen.

        At least if the past actions of the MAFIAA is anything to go by:)
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Simon Brooke ( 45012 ) *

        If I download a track from my favourite band, then I see that I morally ought to be making a payment to that specific band. I don't see that the RIAA, or any recording company, come into the deal at all. I don't see why they should. They're anachronisms. Same with movies. If I download a movie, I need to make a payment to the people who made it. I don't see why I need to make a payment to MPAA, or any other similar body.

    • So now what? A tax on internet access? Charging per port?

      The way things are going, they'll charge per mouse click.

  • by ravenspear ( 756059 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @09:41PM (#18076088)
    Anyone can see it. If EMI is preparing to offer DRM free downloads, and everyone but the other majors want to do away with it, it's only a matter of time before it's eliminated. As much as the content industry might hate it, consumer demand is more powerful than their distribution policy. If they think they can force draconian DRM on people who won't accept it, then their sales will just decline further and they will not fix any of their current problems.

    It took them years to allow internet distribution in any format. It might take a few more before they will allow it in a format which will gain wide acceptance, but ultimately it's in their best interest as well as the consumers'.
    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by ozphx ( 1061292 )
      If they think they can force draconian DRM on people who won't accept it, then their sales will just decline further and they will not fix any of their current problems.

      I wish you we're right. I just imagine my mum coming up against these artificial restrictions. I bet she will just assume its a technical limitation. (DVD region coding was "probably something to do with the southern hemisphere" for her - maybe they spin it backwards ;)

      Education of all your mates is important - but you run the risk of soundi
    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by tmarthal ( 998456 )
      DRM may be on the way out, but watermarking will be on the way in.

      I.e. you can do whatever you want with the file, but there is a digitial hash somewhere in the file that uniquely identifies you, so don't share it, else we will sue.
      • by AusIV ( 950840 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @11:02PM (#18076776)

        DRM may be on the way out, but watermarking will be on the way in.

        Personally, I'd love to see watermarking replace DRM. There will be no artificial limitations on what people can do with their media - I could copy all my DVDs to my computer (and play them on Linux) and have a great media center without having to worry about violating the DMCA, yet the media companies would still have a way of pursuing actual copyright violators. I think it's quite reasonable for the media industry to want to protect their investment, and water marking allows them to do just that while allowing the consumer to use their media the way they want it.

        • by Baki ( 72515 ) on Tuesday February 20, 2007 @07:30AM (#18079916)
          what happens if my ipod is stolen with all watermarked (i.e. linked to me) songs? the thieve publishes to some p2p networks, and I am liable for millions of copies (i.e. billions of dollars)?

          watermarks solve nothing, you cannot sue anyone for being robbed.
          • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

            by Machtyn ( 759119 )
            No, but once you report having been robbed of said item, you are no longer liable. Same thing with gun laws. If your gun is stolen and found to have been involved in a crime, you are not liable. Unless you are the one who actually committed the crime, but that has to be proven.
            • Ahh, so I just need to *borrow* your iPod, like say from your bag while you are at the gym, then return it to you before you notice it's gone. Voila, instant P2P distribution, and you'll never know to report it as stolen.
          • by Acer500 ( 846698 )
            Well, it could be just like if they stole your cell phone or e-mail account or something... I guess you could have the option of reporting it as stolen (in a webpage, to the police station, whatever).

            And they'd have to prove in court that it was actually you who distributed the files over the internet (of course the watermark would make it harder for you to prove you were innocent, but I hope, not impossible. I don't know how US law is either, but I think you should be able to get acquitted).

            I agree wi
          • by AusIV ( 950840 )

            what happens if my ipod is stolen with all watermarked (i.e. linked to me) songs? the thieve publishes to some p2p networks, and I am liable for millions of copies (i.e. billions of dollars)?

            I'd think if anything water marking would make it easier to track down your iPod. Most likely the RIAA would still pursue distributors in court, regardless of whether or not the music bore their watermark. If you reported your iPod stolen immediately, and the RIAA soon found one source distributing a lot of music with

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        In Canada, as the law stands now, I cannot give you a copy of the music (this is illegal distribution), but you can take a copy of my music for yourself (fair use under the copyright law). This explicitly also applies to making a copy for myself of online music.
      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        you can do whatever you want with the file, but there is a digitial hash somewhere in the file that uniquely identifies you, so don't share it, else we will sue.
         
        If I buy the product in a store for cash, who gets identified in this digital hash? The clerk who sold it to me?
      • but there is a digitial hash somewhere

        I've heard of many differing types of hash, but this digital hash of which you speak has really piqued my interest. Where can I get some?
    • by altoz ( 653655 )
      There already is DRM-free music available. It's called CD's.
      • by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
        And can you download one of those? Or buy just one song off of it without buying the whole goddamn thing, including all the filler songs?

        -Eric

  • The greed of these companies is astounding. They are willing to tax anything that might possibly be used as a medium for Music, just to make sure they get their cut. I don't understand how self-centered and greedy some people can be.
    • All the while justifying it all to the public with "well the artists should be compensated for their work", knowing full well the artists are just as fucked whether or not the label gets paid.
      • Re:Greed (Score:4, Interesting)

        by KoshClassic ( 325934 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @11:41PM (#18077144)
        RIAA? How about RAAA? (that is, Recording Artists Association of America). If the artists would just get together and form a group like this, *they* could distribute the money to themselves, leaving the labels (at least on the basis of the 'ol "artists should get paid" argument) out in the cold.
    • They are willing to tax anything that might possibly be used as a medium for Music, just to make sure they get their cut.
      Next they will tax our minds. Afterall, once you've heard a song, it's stored in your memory. :-/
      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Dunbal ( 464142 )
        Next they will tax our minds.

              Most of the music they publish DOES tax our mind... pun intented ;)
  • by skoaldipper ( 752281 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @09:46PM (#18076126)
    EMI sounds like some smart CIO refreshed their memory on the failures of DIVX; introduced in part by Circuit City to negate the early years of an open DVD format. If you wanted to "own" your movie, you just purchased a "silver" status (at more or less the same cost of a DVD) but were only able to view it on your DIVX player (and other hoops to jump through). Sound familiar? You do not need these lock down schemes to part my money from my wallet. Just look at my DVD and CD shelf. Really, you don't need DRM.
    • You do not need these lock down schemes to part my money from my wallet. Just look at my DVD and CD shelf. Really, you don't need DRM.

      I quite agree that DRM isn't good or necessary, but don't DVDs still ship with CSS encryption on them? I don't own many DVDs (a dozen, all were gifts), but as I understand it CSS encryption qualifies as a digital restriction despite being cracked. deCSS is still being passed around semi-secretly from servers in countries that don't have a DMCA equivalent, and no major

      • by JoshJ ( 1009085 )
        Linspire has a legal license to distribute DVD playback software. Their Click-And-Run [cnr.com] thing, when launched, will allow for it to be "legitimately" downloaded on multiple distributions (debian fedora freespire linspire opensuse ubuntu is what their page shows).
        Enjoy.
        • by jbn-o ( 555068 )
          When you said "launched" I wasn't sure if you meant program execution or some organization beginning a service. Apparently you meant the latter; it looks like Click-and-Run isn't available yet. So if you want to play DVDs with free software now, this is not an option.

          deCSS plus some DVD player is an option, but it might be censored software where you live. Will Click-and-Run's DVD player program be free software as in respecting a user's freedom to run, inspect, share, and modify the program at any time
  • by plasmacutter ( 901737 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @09:53PM (#18076196)
    AACS was the advertised poster child of "perfected" DRM. Everyone kept holding that up as the end of DRM cracking. It is dead now, and suddenly nobody in the media is mentioning it.

    Trusted computing is the last on the table, though I don't really classify it's completed implementation as DRM.

    Because the "ideal" trusted computing platform is built to refuse to run unsigned code period, a "trusted computing" compliant computer really cannot be classified as general purpose any more than a box wrench could be classified as a screwdriver.
    • by jonwil ( 467024 )
      AACS was not cracked, what has happened is that people are taking the title keys out of the memory of software players and using it along with an implementation of the published AACS standard.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by newt0311 ( 973957 )

        AACS was not cracked, what has happened is that people are taking the title keys out of the memory of software players and using it along with an implementation of the published AACS standard.

        It doesn't matter what they do. Bottom line is that people are capable of bypassing the encryption scheme and use the content in ways contrary to the intent of AACS. Therefore, AACS has been cracked. When will the idiotic recording companies figure out that DRM is a lost cause and find another business model. Thats the biggest problem with IP and Copyright and DRM just makes it worse. With the advent of computers, it became trivial to copy distribute music etc. The response was to try and block technology.

    • Because the "ideal" trusted computing platform is built to refuse to run unsigned code period

      This is a common /. meme, but it's incorrect. A TCPA TPM has no ability to control what code can or cannot run on the system. It's just a little device that sits on a bus (usually USB, though I think there may be PCI implementations) right next to all of the rest of the devices on your system. Like all of the others, a TPM is controlled by the OS and applications, not the other way around.

      A TPM does four basic things:

      • Hashes data fed into it, storing the result in one of a few Program Control Regis
  • ... that I'd never pay per song or per oldsk00l CDs. And yes, I *can* afford to buy stuff, I just want my money here in my bank account, thank you very much. Why waste my money on crap, when there's way better stuff for free (like online radios like di.fm or trance[]control's stuff). Shoutcast forever! Legal, free, and way better.
  • by ratboy666 ( 104074 ) <fred_weigel@hotmail. c o m> on Monday February 19, 2007 @10:01PM (#18076278) Journal
    I am for it. Bump that levy. And make it apply to ALL digital content, and not just music.

    Given that I just got a cease-and-desist for sharing "Click" (my network was), and I don't want to have to bother with it -- I want movies treated the same as music is here in Canada.

    Unfortunately, I predict that the Candian Recording lobby will "convince" the government to eliminate the levy, and put in strict DMCA style regulations; you know, to conform to the American model.

    Maybe I am alone here, but, on reflection, I LIKE the levy. The idea of spending a bit more up front to keep the weasels away appeals to me. I don't really want the government trying to introduce "micro-payments" (I am sure they would REALLY fuck that up). I don't want an "on-line" levy -- because a lot of on-line activity is NOT for "copyright material". But media commonly used for that purpose? Sure, give them the levy.

    Just my opinion.
    • by teknomage1 ( 854522 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @10:26PM (#18076478) Homepage
      I suppose you don't use cd's or dvds for archival data or just plain sneakernet style data transfer? The number of DVDs I've burned that included video data combined with the number of cds I've burned containing music is dwarfed by the amount of data cds I've burned by at least an order of magnitude. Why should I have to pay a levy on my data because YOU don't want to deal with the copyright storm troopers?
      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by zcat_NZ ( 267672 )
        That's exactly why he likes the levy. You're paying for his music.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 19, 2007 @10:05PM (#18076300)
    I just heard an interview with Bob Ezrin. He just did a presentation at the East Coast Music Awards where he basically ripped the industry for being clueless. "It's like they're fighting the atom bomb with muskets and swords." He told the story about talking with an industry executive and asking him where his computer was. The guy said he didn't need one because his secretary opened his email. Ezrin's reaction was something like: "You're so dead." There has been serious carnage in the music industry and it isn't over yet.

    From the conference website: "The conference program will include a presentation from legendary producer Bob Ezrin. Having produced, mixed and played on legendary albums by Alice Cooper, Nine Inch Nails, Lou Reed, and KISS, Ezrin is perhaps best known for his production work on Pink Floyd's seminal The Wall. He is currently working with Universal Music Canada on talent development and the creation of a next generation music company."
  • by viking2000 ( 954894 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @10:07PM (#18076322)
    I know RIAA is enemy #1 here on /., but please realize that their entire business model has evaporated, and they are evaporating too. The treatment here on /. is like whipping a dying horse.

    Music and song were thriving for thousands of years before the recording industry.

    The only thing that brought the music industry to life was the ability to control distribution due to -cost of equipment- (recording studio, vinyl production, radio stations)

    with technology advances, this control has gone away, and their entire business model has evaporated.

    They really have no choice but to try to artificially create a business model based on DRM and legislation, but obviously, these measures are bound to fail.

    Can anyone here at /. come up with a different solution for them?
    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by 0123456 ( 636235 )
      "Can anyone here at /. come up with a different solution for them?"

      Sell music in an open format at a guaranteed quality level with access to their entire back catalogue at a reasonable price (i.e. not $1 a track)? In other words, give their customers what they want at a price they'll pay?

      Nah, that would be too much like hard work.
    • by fucksl4shd0t ( 630000 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @10:19PM (#18076422) Homepage Journal

      Why should we? And while we're at it, why can't we whip back? After the bullshit they've put us and our friends and family through, why should we just walk away? It's not good enough that their business model has evaporated, the coke-snorting abusive record label executives need to hold up cardboard signs saying "Will work for food" before justice will be satisfied.

    • by ewhac ( 5844 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @11:15PM (#18076898) Homepage Journal

      Can anyone here at /. come up with a different solution for them?

      Reputation management. Which is pretty much what they do today.

      They think their business is selling little round plastic discs. It's not. It's selecting and marketing artists, and there will always be a market for that.

      See, here's the thing: If we postulate that all music become free for the copying, how do you select what you want to hear? Consider the 500 channels of crap you already have on your cable TV feed -- an embarrassment of riches to be sure, but how much of it do you actually watch? How much can you watch? How do you decide what to watch? The explosion of available content is not going to slow down (absent a global disaster), and you're going to need intermediaries to help you sift through it all.

      Consider American Idol. Just one viewing of the early episodes of any given season will reveal to you the true depth of horrifyingly self-deluded suckage out there. And there, through it all, sits Simon Cowell, the show's creator. He sits through the crap so you don't have to. You may argue that what he lets through is still crap but, honestly, the stuff he's pruned out is much, much, much worse.

      This is the primary service the RIAA members still provide, and still can. They could position themselves as P2P search engines and filters, picking through songs available on the various P2P networks, and rating music based on their evaluations and your preferences. Note that they're not offering up the tunes themselves. The tunes they're listing are out there somewhere on the Net; Google would find them, too, if you typed in the right filename. All the label's search site would do is present what they warrant to be quality music that you're likely to enjoy. This would, of course, be a subscription service -- say USD$7.95/month. What you'd be paying for is not the music, but the recommendations.

      This would leave the RIAA members with the ability to present a "portal" they control, so promotion opportunities for new performers would still be possible. Streaming music would allow the label to feature "celebrity DJs" pushing a mix of their featured tunes -- just like the old payola days, only without the middlemen. And they could also earn money on the back-end by offering "promotional services" to new artists who want to boost their position in the search results. Each label could open multiple "fronts" on the Web, each purporting to specialize in particular music genres, or optimizing for particular aspects you feel are important (and billing for each separately).

      ...Basically, the philosophical antithesis of Google. Except that everyone would know that going in. You'd know your music filter service would be a heavily biased party, which is why you'd subscribe to two or three of them to try and even things out. This would probably be a really great idea right up to the point ClearChannel took over all of them.

      Schwab

      • Daymn.

        I mean, seriously, *Damn*.

        That's a helluvan idea. Well-played, sir, well played.
      • Lovely idea, but...

        The only income seems to be from the website subscriptions. OK. One guy takes out a subscription to EMIArtistSearch.com - he's a DJ in a popular club. He finds out what's new and what's cool. Downloads the files. Plays them that night. Everyone at the club hears the new tunes there. They go to Google and get the same files, this time for free.

        The only reason I've got to subscribe to the website is if it's the only channel by which the company are publicising the band. It won't be. The

    • by TropicalCoder ( 898500 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @11:26PM (#18077008) Homepage Journal

      As the man said "Music and song were thriving for thousands of years before the recording industry." ...and now - it's totally corrupt. Just think about it - how the record industry created these "Big Stars" - just like Hollywood and the National League [of your favourite sport here]. What fools we have all been to elevate these people to the status of gods! Of course, we have been manipulated by the mightiest marketing machine history has never known, but still, we bear the responsibility for our own actions in the end.

      It's totally absurd that in this world where a quarter of the world's population suffers famine and we have so many other problems and priorities, that a few "stars" earn millions, and their promoters earn billions. And who are these people? For the most part, they are not musical geniuses; rather, they are icons of a corrupt pop-culture. They are stand-in symbols for whatever the current generation wants - anti-authority figures - 'sex, drugs, and Rock n' Roll'.

      Centuries ago, art and music served as a form of worship, reaching for the highest ideals and aspirations that Man could strive for. Bach wrote his Fugues. Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Shakespeare wrote his plays, Byron, Shelley, Keats wrote poetry, Handel wrote his choral works, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Mozart composed their symphonies, the list goes on and on. Did any of these people, whose works have endured for centuries, ever earn millions of dollars? And did someone acting as their agent or producer earn many times more?

      What has this world come to? I just typed "Greatest artists of all time" into Google and what do I get? Michelangelo? Leonardo da Vinci? Rembrandt? No, though that is exactly what I was looking for. Get this: According to Google, it's 1. The Beatles, 2. The Rolling Stones, 3. Jimi Hendrix, 4. Led Zeppelin, 5. Bob Dylan, 6. James Brown, 7. David Bowie, 8. Elvis Presley, 9. The Who, 10. The Police, 11. Stevie Wonder, 12. Ray Charles, 13. The Beach Boys, 14. Marvin Gaye, 15. Eric Clapton. Isn't there something wrong here?

      Give me a break! "Greatest artists of all time" - how many of these people will even be remembered a century from now? I would only call one of these people an artist - Bob Dylan, and many of the rest are monster pop-icons created by the music industry back in the good ol' payola days. (Well, I have to admit, I too liked their music - most of them anyhow - what can I say? But that doesn't make them the "Greatest artists of all time". It's a matter of proportion, isn't it? What kind of a narrow view do we have, as reflected by Google?

      Now, please don't get me wrong. I love contemporary music as much as anybody. I probably don't know any more about Classical Music, Fine Art, or Great Literature than you, and there certainly were times in my life when I would have liked nothing better than sex, drugs, and Rock n' Roll if/when I could get it.

      My thesis is that record companies grew to be giant multinationals by catering to the worst within us, corrupting us with there greed, polluting our values, hijacking our culture for thier own monetary gain. Let them go back to Hell where they came from. It's time for this bullshit to end.

      • First, please don't compare visual artists with recording artists directly. The skills don't necc. overlap.
        I believe that the Beatles' music will be remembered a century from now--hey, its still being remembered now is worth something. Likely the more iconic drawings of John Lennon will be remembered as well. I suspect Paul McCartney's paintings will be remembered, too, but I don't know if they'll be remembered as good examples.
        Hey, at least one /. member has taken it on himself to remember one of the
      • "Just think about it - how the record industry created these "Big Stars" - just like Hollywood and the National League [of your favourite sport here]"

        This isn't something the modern world invented. The ancient Greeks had competitions for musicians and poets that resulted in great renown and wealth for for the winners. There is a life-size Roman statue of an aulos player, and one had to be pretty important to get a statue made; and both Greek and Roman sportsmen became notable celebrities, with gladiators es
    • by AusIV ( 950840 )

      Can anyone here at /. come up with a different solution for them?

      Sure, provide a higher quality product.

      For starters, let me make one thing clear: I am not a pirate. I don't try and get a free ride on music and movies, and almost all of my software is Open Source.

      Let's ignore pricing for a minute. On iTunes, I can get a song encoded in AAC audio at a bitrate of 128 kbps, and I can only play it on up to 5 computers and iPods, or burn it to a CD. Again, I'm not a pirate, but I've been under the impression

      • The pirates offer a better product. Most of my friends would be willing to pay at least $.99 a song if it didn't have DRM and was encoded at a higher bitrate than iTunes, but they don't get that option - it's either accept the DRM, or pirate.

        Many people make the assumption if it isn't marketed, there is not a choice except to pirate. This is wrong. I do vote with my pocketbook, but you don't have to pirate to cast a no vote on high price and low quaility. Buy high quality alternatives instead. Money Tal
    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Watson Ladd ( 955755 )
      Someone should introduce a bill revoking their corporate charters. Right now they are just delaying the inevitable. Call it the "Mercy to Recording Companies Act of 2007".
    • by mgiuca ( 1040724 )

      their entire business model has evaporated, and they are evaporating too. The treatment here on /. is like whipping a dying horse.
      More like a horse that just found out it's contracted a terminal illness, so it's gone crazy and is stampeding through the streets.

      Someone get the tranquilizers...
    • I know RIAA is enemy #1 here on /.

      I thought they were #3 on Slashdot. I guess I haven't been paying attention.

      I thought the top list was;

      #1 Microsoft
      #2 SCO
      #3 **AA

      Thanks for the update.

      I guess it's time for a new poll to update the official list.
    • by mugnyte ( 203225 )
      Sure. Here's my advice: Get Out of The Fucking Way!

      Great music is being made by innovative people all the time, distributed on channels that get relatively no market, listened to by people that have money and are willing to pay - but not enough people just yet.

      Let radio be pay-per-month - there's a market. Let giant shows in packed stadiums sell tickets for $300 (+$25 per ticket "handling") - there's a market. Let radio continue to plug new artists (without payola!) by having producers s
    • Certainly. Shift the focus.

      Their distribution ways are outdated. Granted. Nothing's easier today than distribution data, and content is nothing but data. And yes, even everyone can get "exposure". But have you ever tried?

      Their place is in marketing and representation. They have the connections to TV networks, studios, movie makers, you name it. They have all the contacts to make a band soar. They know how to create a hype, they know how to plan tours, their main asset, even though they don't want to realize
  • Comical (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Jerry Coffin ( 824726 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @10:30PM (#18076516)
    It's truly comical to see how completely music company executives ignore reality. Watch MTV for an hour or two, and it quickly becomes apparent that music simply doesn't matter much to its primary target demographic. Based on how little air time it now gets, sales should be down much further than they are. Somehow the executives blithely ignore this, however, and blame their troubles entirely on file sharing, p2p, and so on.

    They need to concentrate on finding some real talent. Right now they seem to concentrate primarily on finding second-rate wannabe-models, and then try to cover their complete lack of talent with lousy recording, lots of digital processing and when that doesn't work, attempt to distract from the mediocrity with synchronized dancing.

    Once they've found some talent, they need to do a good (not over-produced) job of recording them, and sell the recording at a reasonably fair price. Here again, they've fallen down badly -- at one time, the amount of work and machinery raised enough barrier to entry that prices are recordings were at least partially justified. That's just no longer the case. Photocopiers haven't hurt the book market noticeably, simply because most people prefer a nicely printed and bound book to a photocopy, and a photocopy generally doesn't save much (if any) money anyway. The recording labels don't want to compete similarly because it would cut their profit margins -- but it's the only route that has any chance of being truly viable in the long term.

    The fact is, if you want to sell something, you have to start by providing something that people actually want. Then you have to set a price that people will accept. These are simple facts the record companies have to face. Until they do, neither DRM nor lawsuits will improve their situation -- or even noticeably slow the rate at which it deteriorates.
    • I really REALLY wish i had the foresight to record the episode, but around 1998 there was an episode of beyond 2000 (discovery channel) where they detailed a software called "hitmaker".

      it took a piece of music, analyzed it based on a bunch of criteria, and graphed it. Where it fell on the graph determines if it will be a "hit" or not.

      The advent of this software conincides with the homogenizing of all musical genres, and the stagnation of the music industry in general.

      Music simply ceased evolving, period, b
    • The shift in MTV is not (only) due to music becoming unpopular. Not even only that current music sucks worse than a clogged hoover. It's the 'net.

      With YouTube at your fingertips, do you sit down in front of MTV hoping that "your" video eventually comes, with ads flooding you every 5 minutes?
  • What these RIAA asshats don't realize is that they have been a huge impediment to satisfying the needs of customers. They discovered a way to print money and are unwilling to admit the party is over.

    As soon as consumers found a way to bypass the aging distribution model, the dam was let loose. Or to abuse a few other metaphors... the genie is out of the bottle... the cat is out of the bag...
    • Pandora's box opened.

      Though, this isn't unique to the content industry. Look around you and tell me that the goods offered match your demand. With competition being eliminated and only a handful of corporations remaining, they pretty much dictate what is produced.

      It's stunning to see that communism finally won, though in very different and quite twisted ways.
  • by c0d3h4x0r ( 604141 ) on Monday February 19, 2007 @10:51PM (#18076678) Homepage Journal
    It's so easy to poke holes in how awful the industry's current strategy is... but I haven't heard anyone convincingly lay out a better strategy. It's truly harder to come up with a good original idea than to rip other people's ideas to shreds.

    I will just say this: I think the industry's paranoid, DRM-pushing strategy is based on them hugely misinterpreting the data of recent years.

    "Piracy is increasing!"
    "Our sales are declining!"

    Flawed conclusion: Sales are declining due to increased piracy!
    Flawed course of action: Get more strict about stopping piracy!

    Reality: Very few instances of piracy are lost sales; most people pirate just because they can, but if they couldn't, they sure as hell wouldn't go out and buy legitimate copies of everything they've pirated. People will pirate anything regardless of quality, but most people won't pay for content that sucks and just keeps getting worse. Also, you can't expect people to keep paying $18 for a pre-pressed audio CD when they know damn well it only costs $2 to make (since they can do it themselves at home on a PC and know what's involved).

    Correct conclusion: Sales are declining due to decreasing value proposition (overpriced sucky content on increasingly cheap media).
    Correct course of action: Aggresively seek out (or create!) better content and promote it; stop promoting crap; drop price-per-unit.

    • The flaw already starts way earlier. There is no increasing piracy. People just have a ton more stuff to spend money on.

      The main demographic target group for CD sales is the age group between 14 and 25. Until about 1995, all they had to spend their money on was music. Of course sales were good back then. Then the cellphone came on and, I'm pretty sure this is a world wide phenomenon, everyone and their dog had to have one and, at least here, teenagers spend a sizable portion of their money on their phone bi
  • There is no limit to what they're going to want to tax. With this in mind, perhaps it's best not to have any levies at all.

    A better solution may encompass letting the recording industry go tax free in all regards. By this I mean no income tax, no sales tax on the materials purchased (i.e. the CDs), etc. In exchange for this, they would have to agree not to sue anyone unless it's for true piracy. I.e. selling someone else's intellectual property (like making copies and eBaying them off).
  • I read two issues in TFA: 1) listening to Jobs and rumours about a DRM-free EMI, DRM is on the way out and 2) the copying levy in Canada is also on the way out, albeit not so quickly, and maybe to be replaced by something else. I'm thrilled by the first, but less optimistic (and possibly less enthusiastic) about the second.

    What pisses me off about DRM is that it is not just about ensuring that content cannot be distributed to anyone holus-bolus, but it is about restricting use far and beyond current pract

  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 20, 2007 @12:03AM (#18077366)
    I have a collection of about 500 cds mostly purchased at full price from chain stores. You do the math as to what that put in the pockets of the RIAA.
    Most of these were purchased before DRM existed and include numerous full-catalogue purchases. I have no ripped-off material.
    I have about 3 or 4 DRM'd cds. They SUCK. They all give me problems on older players that I have, or refuse to play on my PC through the speakers. That's not trying to copy them or anything fancy, they just don't F'n work on sub-optimal equipment, where everything else does.
    End. I don't buy music anymore. Not if it has a DRM logo on it. Neither do I steal it BTW, I just don't consume music anymore, except for some local homegrown bands who cut their own slugs, sell direct and pocket the income.
    Goodbye RIAA.
    • End. I don't buy music anymore. Not if it has a DRM logo on it.

      I don't look for the DRM logo. Not all junk has it. I look for the Compact Disc logo to ensure compliance with the CD standard specification.

      No logo, no sale.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

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