You really have to wonder if the music industry is oblivious or actually trying to transition to obsolescence. Though there have been great strides in being able to purchase digital music with little or no restrictions, two of the more innovative music-related sites on the 'net are in danger of going under.
Muxtape, the virtual mixtape application is currently shut down (and has been for a few weeks) citing "problem with the RIAA". The "problem" is most likely that the RIAA wants them to either pay up or stop using copyrighted music. Muxtape claims none of the labels or artists have complained about their service, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'd fly under the radar of the big meanies at the industry group.
Possibly more troubling is some comments from virtual radio station site Pandora indicating that they're paying new fees on the music they broadcast over the Internet. Fees that traditional broadcast radio stations don't have to pay. Considering the reach of terrestrial radio compared to online radio like Pandora, it seems disingenuous to charge extra fees to broadcast over the Internet. The net result is Pandora is basically running on borrowed time because they're not profitable or even sustainable with the increased fees.
I've never been a user of Muxtape (though I know people who are and love it), but I'm a big believer in Pandora and Pandora-like services being the future of radio-style music delivery... mainly because your "stations" are based on a really complex--and very accurate in most cases--analysis of what you like in music.
VentureBeat has a good piece on one (very radical) scenario where all music is free and artists are paid by patrons. Sound familiar? If you're a history buff (especially art and music history), it should. That's how things were (and still are in some cases) done in the art and music world prior to wide-scale commercialization.
Aside from the idea of patronage, the fact that the recording industry doesn't seem to get that these new delivery methods are disruptive technology is troubling. Truth is, the music industry has to adapt to the way people these days want their music, and any attempt to muscle people back into the "way things were" is akin to putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.
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9 comments:
Well with music companies always trying to sell the next "new sound" and pocket the profit from the artist and consumer, these companies are always going to complain about someone hearing the songs for free. I'm actually a firm believer in paying tribute or contribution to those whose work hard and deserve it (i.e. the artist themselves), but in the business of money and art, everyone whose involved wants to profit from someone elses work. So when the artist wants to give the song out for free, he/she can't because he/she doesn't own the rights to the songs when they work for Major Recording labels. That's where the problem starts.People love music but don't always have the money to purchase them, so someone will always find a way to get what they want or need no matter what the consquences are. The only two solutions are to either to give the public what we want and make it easy and affordable (free), or to keep music off the internet, and people will still steal the music that was made for them to listen to.
-Traemon McCabe
It really is a "scary" time for big media as the phenomenon known as the "internet" becomes more and more popular. Honestly there isn't even anything that I could give as a comparison to the internet because the internet allows one to share there art with many others (possibly millions) all by themselves with no charge. And to make matters worse there is this whole "free" listening deal going on.
I much agree with everything McCabe stated. It is obvious that the internet has caused a major hole in their business philosophy and standard and instead of trying to find a new way to adapt to this soon-to-be modern music form they continue to cling on to the past instead of going forward. And one way to prolong this is to shut down the sites that are causing the problems.
Now yes yes I know that "stealing" is "wrong" but again it is just like McCabe stated people what music to be is and affordable. We don't feel like going to the record store and paying $15 for a single CD. Instead of trying to "get the bad man" possibly they could ask those consumers "why they pirate?", "what problems they have with the distribution?", "how should the music be priced?", etc. Possibly they could ask themselves "How can we use piracy to our advantage?" I mean think about it they already got the first half of the work done, people listened to the song and enjoy it now all they have to do is purchase it.
Possibly setting up sites like https://www.beatport.com/ where artists post their music and the consumer pays for a reasonable price for the songs as well as having such a deep selection of songs and the ability to listen to the songs before you buy.
Of course the obvious problem lies that there will be independent sites or sites where the artist gets a far more share of the purchasing pie (unlike say 2 cents out of 99 cents like a certain artists receives on iTunes). And the publishing companies would need to compete with that.
I honestly understanding were the big corps are coming from but times are changing and piracy CANNOT be destroyed there will ALWAYS be piracy. What they should be asking is not "How can we kill this?" but more so "How can we compete against this?"
- Nader Omar
The music industry will always be an oblivious business to understand. They want to release their artists' music but still want to release it on the shelves of music stores. When you walk into Target the cds are quite pricey compared to music on Itunes. There have to be alternatives of where music can be bought because times are changing.
Piracy is an obvious obstacle to get around because it is illegal. Unfortunately it's universal and maybe unstoppable but still there should be a solution to stop piracy. It should be stopped because record companies and their artists are not earning money for their hard work. When music was sold on shelves in stores, the artists, consumers, and people of the music industry were happy.
Music should be sold at a fair price like Itunes and Amazon.com do. The full length cd and individual songs are sold within an affordable price. The music costs money and everybody gets their fair share.
If music were not sold on the internet then the record companies would be struggling because many people own mp3 players. It's time they adapt to the times in order to stay in the know how.
DaMarkus James
I am unfamiliar with Pandora. However, after the explanation given in the post I think it is crazy that they are being forced to pay extra fees that traditional stations do not. As a musician I am a firm believer in paying the artist for the work he/she has done but, I also understand the importance of the internet. The internet helps with marketing and gets your music heard by a broader audience. To punish sites that are simply playing your music in radio format is wrong. The music industry doesn't realize that they are only hurting themselves. Especially, when these sites publicly announce that they are being forced to pay extra fees imposed on them.
Molly Cotner
MCCMN 101 11:00
It's hard to decide where to begin on this topic. I agree with Molly when she talked about the absurdity of charging Pandora more than traditional radio stations. I do believe that websites that allow people to download free music is completely wrong. Sure everyone does it but it should truely be up to the artist that created the music. I personally think that the future of music will no longer be in CD sales it will all be online with websites such as iTunes. Most people don't want to pay for an entire CD when they only want a few songs on it, instead they will download the songs that they want off the internet for a much more reasonable price. Plus with the removal of CD's it would be more cost effective as well as environment friendly.
-Amanda-
that is completly true the way music is perchesed these days. There is no way it will ever go back to byeing the cd. the goverment needs to come up with a new way to control the way music is sold on the internet instead of letting compunies let people download for free and then hitting them with a bill when its all over.
I believe the music industry always has some plan to basically run everything the way they want to. And it is a business, so it kind of makes sense. The only problem is that people are not always going to follow the rules that the music industry wants them to.
I have used the site Pandora and I had a hard time trying to listen to songs I searched for. Every song I typed in seemed to want a fee to listen to it. I was just trying to listen, I had no intent to download or "pirate" the music. I feel that if a musician is good enough, I will go out and purchase the cd. I'm sure there are many people out there like myself.
The way of listening to music just on the radio is dead. More and more people are going to the internet to listen to their music. It seems like many "big label" artists have a hard time getting their music out there for this reason. It seems the only way to hear them is to buy a disc or purchase online. If the music industry can adjust to this, many problems could easily be solved.
-Jeff Lown
Pandora is a great way to get music out to people. Paying for online music is not necessary when they are providing the same service as broadcast stations. More sites like Pandora should be developed and supported by the music industry.
Kelly Hughes
The music industry is really behind the times. Every other mass media type has adapted its business model to work on the the web. Broadcast TV now has hulu or similar sites that have been extremely successful. News paper has online distribution. Movies can be streamed to your computer ,Xbox, Tivo or other players like the NetFlix Roku. Yet the music industry is still trying to push on us songs for a $1 a piece that have so much DRM restrictions they won't work on my Phone, MP3 player, or my computers(linux OS). A few bands are now trying a name your own price scheme, leaving their labels behind, and it is working out very well for them. I am way more likely to pay for a song knowing that the money is going to the band rather than a big corporation. I think self distribution or patrons paying ,like the post described, are going to win out over the big record labels unless they change their strategy.
Collyn Rankin MCCNM 11:00
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