Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Well, strangely enough the news doesn't seem to support the music industry's contention that Internet Piracy is killing the music industry and taking the food from the bowls of our poor minstrels. Indeed, it seems that the music industry is itself to blame. How much longer are we going to have to put up with them crying wolf like this, home taping didn't kill off music in the eighties and piracy is not to blame now. There was an item about this on Newsnight last night and only the BMI spokesman insisted on sticking his head in the sand and squarking that Internet Piracy visited his house like a thief in the night to steal his childrens toys, everyone else was grown up about it.
The industry in singles is down. This is also the industry's fault, bringing in those daft rules almost a decade ago that made a single ineligable for the charts if it had more than three tracks or was over twenty minutes in length? Thereby sacrificing the chart to no talents like the Spice Girls, or the Atomic Blue Hear'say Babes crowd who were grateful for any restriction that helped them get away with passing less music on to their fans. 'Internet Piracy' isn't the sound of kids wanting to get something for nothing, it's the sound of ver kids taking an alternative to singles as the way of hearing what an album sounds like. Especially if it's not a new album but an old one. How many people would be willing to spend around £15 or more (because old albums rarely get included in money of sales) on the off-chance they might like something if they can't download a few tracks first to get an idea what it's like?
I've said before that I've got a couple of albums on my computer that I haven't bought, though in my case I got them from the library rather than downloaded them from the net. For my upcoming birthday I've asked for the genuine article and any I don't get given I'll buy myself afterwards. If I hadn't heard what they sounded like already them the BMI wouldn't be getting anything at all, because I wouldn't have been willing to spend money on something I wouldn't be sure I liked.
Perhaps the BMI needs to look at it's priorities. Perhaps it shouldn't waste millions of pounds trying to chase little boys who have downloaded Eminems latest album, it certainly shouldn't be going after Metallica fans with their albums on their computers, because anyone willing to subject themselves to Metallica is in a whole different dimension of pain already. Maybe opening gates would solve their problems. Maybe not. Maybe micropayments would help them, maybe not. But dropping a few poor to middling performing bands from their roster because they've spent all their money chasing five German kids who'd downloaded the lastest Strokes album is not a good blueprint for long term financial stability. Perhaps the reason the BMI is getting less money for more product these days is because if I wait a few weeks then an album I might have had to pay a tenner for will be part of a sale where I get four for twenty quid.
The industry in singles is down. This is also the industry's fault, bringing in those daft rules almost a decade ago that made a single ineligable for the charts if it had more than three tracks or was over twenty minutes in length? Thereby sacrificing the chart to no talents like the Spice Girls, or the Atomic Blue Hear'say Babes crowd who were grateful for any restriction that helped them get away with passing less music on to their fans. 'Internet Piracy' isn't the sound of kids wanting to get something for nothing, it's the sound of ver kids taking an alternative to singles as the way of hearing what an album sounds like. Especially if it's not a new album but an old one. How many people would be willing to spend around £15 or more (because old albums rarely get included in money of sales) on the off-chance they might like something if they can't download a few tracks first to get an idea what it's like?
I've said before that I've got a couple of albums on my computer that I haven't bought, though in my case I got them from the library rather than downloaded them from the net. For my upcoming birthday I've asked for the genuine article and any I don't get given I'll buy myself afterwards. If I hadn't heard what they sounded like already them the BMI wouldn't be getting anything at all, because I wouldn't have been willing to spend money on something I wouldn't be sure I liked.
Perhaps the BMI needs to look at it's priorities. Perhaps it shouldn't waste millions of pounds trying to chase little boys who have downloaded Eminems latest album, it certainly shouldn't be going after Metallica fans with their albums on their computers, because anyone willing to subject themselves to Metallica is in a whole different dimension of pain already. Maybe opening gates would solve their problems. Maybe not. Maybe micropayments would help them, maybe not. But dropping a few poor to middling performing bands from their roster because they've spent all their money chasing five German kids who'd downloaded the lastest Strokes album is not a good blueprint for long term financial stability. Perhaps the reason the BMI is getting less money for more product these days is because if I wait a few weeks then an album I might have had to pay a tenner for will be part of a sale where I get four for twenty quid.
