Filesharing, once more
Thanks to Steve Lawson for providing some much needed perspective on this issue.
The musical landscape has changed so dramatically in the last few years that I don’t really blame musicians for not knowing what to do about it, but lashing out at fans seems a bit silly. The implications of embracing file sharing for independent musicians are, in my opinion, hugely positive.
Musicians have the right to ask to be paid for what they earn, sure, but they don’t get to decide the value of what they produce. The market does.
If individuals don’t believe that MP3s are worth anything financially and the technology makes it incredibly easy (and mostly anonymous) to share music then, suddenly, the whole thing becomes socially acceptable and the value of MP3s really does become £0. Your market has spoken.
Trying to stop this is like trying to command back the tide.
The moral arguments are mostly irrelevant – it’s happening. A lot. There are people embracing it and inventing new models while the old guard complain and try to get unworkable laws enacted. Who’s going to prosper in the long run?
As for musicians who want to make money, it’s simple: Build your list. A database of your fan’s email addresses is infinitely more valuable to you in the long term than trying to get strangers to pay £1 for an MP3, especially when they’ve never heard you before.
There is a sense of entitlement with some musicians. I worked hard, so pay me. The market doesn’t work like that – you just have to watch Dragon’s Den for examples of other hard workers not getting paid.
An example from Chris Anderson’s Free
Penny Arcade give away every one of their comic strips – their primary creative product – for free. These guys are seriously wedged, but it’s not about the money. It’s about the fans.
People need to get to know you before they’ll financially commit to you. For musicians, the best way for this to happen is to get on their iPods by any means necessary.
Critics of the ‘freetards’ (what a horrid term), it seems to me, are a little unsure of the future and the implications of technology. It is what it is, you can see it as a threat or an opportunity. Those that see it as an opportunity will prosper. Those that see it as a threat will continue trying to sue fans. Google have created a stunning business model, yet for you and me, everything they do is free.
Telling people they should pay because the producer worked hard is not how Capitalism works. Sucks, maybe, but there it is – I played video games solidly for 5 years as a teenager. No one ever paid me penny.
