Darwin Awards 2007: The RIAA
For all their whining and complaining, and despite profits being up, the entertainment industry may ultimately be responsible for its own demise.
The New York Times reported today that some record companies are considering selling plain old unprotected MP3s, as opposed to the DRM-protected stuff they're shilling now through places like the iTunes music store. And it's about time.
The internet is new in a cosmic sense, but has been around long enough for the entertainment industries to come up with some new ideas. Up until recently, the big guys have ignored the opportunities available to them on the internet, and at their own peril.
Information wants to be free and copying is nothing new. Audio tapes and VHS tapes, in their heyday, were both accused of the future death of the music industry and film industry, respectively. I don't need to tell you how that worked out. And the internet being, in my opinion, the single most important invention in my lifetime, up there with the printing press and radio, changing the internet to suit the needs of old business models is not an option. Business must change to suit the internet.
Selling DRM-protected content was a good first step. A wobbly, misinformed, and ill-fated toddler's first step, maybe, but still good; the big guys were finally changing their business models to reflect the changing world. But DRM is lousy - and still not good enough. Why?
1. DRM protected content is often player-specific. If you invest in music from the iTunes store, you can only play it back on an iPod. That would be great if the iPod was the only player you ever needed or wanted, but what if your iPod shits the bed? What if someone really does come out with an iPod killer (better luck next time, Microsoft)? Or maybe you're just sick of the damn thing and want something with FM radio built in, like a MuVo TX FM from creative? If any of these things happen, you have to buy the music all over again - something you would never have to do if you switched from Technics to Stanton record players, or Sony to Panasonic CD players. Now, granted, if you bought a whole hell of a lot of records in the 60s and 70s and then switched to a CD player in the 80s, you're a little screwed. But in that case the problem of 'upgrading' your music comes from natural, pre-existing incompatibilities with physical size and the way the audio is stored on the media. The difference between Zune-bought songs and iTunes songs is artificial and intentional, and consumers know it.
2. DRM puts the record companies at a distinct disadvantage against their main internet competitor - pirates. When they sell DRM-crippled music that is essentially broken and can be a real pain in the ass to use - even for an old-school computer geek like me - they are actually selling an inferior product than people can get for free from the pirates. (And, in case you haven't noticed file sharing on the internet has not and will not be slowed by suing grandmothers, soccer moms, and the families of recently deceased defendants. And no, bringing lawsuits against your customers does not count as a business plan.) This is where they're really shooting themselves in the foot. For their best business plan to work, they have to put their best product forward. In the interest of trying to win a battle that they have already lost (i.e. the free dissemination of information over the internet), they are coming to market with third-rate product.
The record companies can win this thing, and they can do it nicely. I believe that. Here are the three big things the record companies have that the internet-savy can't get anywhere else.
1. Legitimacy - Consumers don't have to stalk through the dark alleys of the internet, and maybe catch a virus, to find what they're looking for.
2. Ease of use - Because the pirates are working for free doing something that generates no revenue, they can't afford to store all those files on a central location. The media has to be distributed, and that means client software and convoluted methods to find what you're looking for. There are a whole lot of people who don't know - and are unwilling to spend the time to learn - how to pirate.
3. Catalog - The aforementioned distribution means that what's available online is only what is most popular. For instance, The Pirate Bay shows, as of publishing time, that lots of people are seeding (sharing) Fall Out Boy, Norah Jones, and Bloc Party, and the seeders quickly fall off from there. The record companies have enormous libraries of music to sell and there are huge numbers of paying customers, like myself, who wish that Fall Out Boy would just go ahead and die of radiation poisoning. (See: The Long Tail.)
I love music and I have an iPod. I use computers and I am a nerd. I have money and I like to shop. I am an ideal customer for digital music. But until the RIAA drops DRM, I'm not buying any.
The RIAA has a bigger fish to fry here- Myspace and services like Pandora. Even if the RIAA stops suing everyone and their grandmother, and makes music more easily accessible, they have already lost their stranglehold on promoting the music they saw fit.
People are discovering music differently now. 20 years ago, people relied on the radio and MTV to tell them what to listen to. The RIAA controlled what was played and how often, and whatever they wanted to be big was going to be big. This is how "Boy Bands" and Brittany Spears were able to get where they are. Today, people are relying on word of mouth (myspace), and things like Pandora to discover new music. These channels are ultimately NOT controlled by the RIAA (yes, I can see how you could make an arguement myspace IS controlled by the RIAA, but you get my point).
Even if the RIAA keeps their hold on music distribution, my guess is you'll see more and more bands using these new forms of promotion more and more, and not even BOTHER to sign with a label, because there's no benefit in doing it. And the RIAA needs artists more than vice vera.
RIAA was a vegan who married josh.
I see the need for both models. There is always a segment of the population who wants their media spoon fed to them by a giant media conglomerate, and thats why we will always have Brittany's and such. Ohio will buy Brittany, and Brooklyn will buy Animal Parade Fire, off of FaceSpace...or something.
It's absolutely true.
That "segment of the population who wants their media spoon fed to them" didn't exist before marketing geniuses figured out how to make a market segment. People are only spoon-fed because some very smart people figured out how to make people want to be spoon fed.
The internet is changing this. I hope.
Josh, when are you coming home? The baby's getting sick. I can't take care of everything myself.
I think one thing that doesn't get discussed very often is this: The failing major label business model, while doing all the bad stuff mentioned above, does some other things that the 'populist/internet supported/artist-empowered upcoming model will not do. There are many industries that are supported from major label money that may be extinct in the next few years. Here are a few:
1)Recording Studios & Producers. Although a few are owned by labels, most are independent. These employ the finest audio professionals in the world. People who know all the arcana involved with making polished records, and have the equipment to do it. They don't make alot as it stands now. Expect to see the same names on more records over and over.
2) Equipment makers. People who make 60 track mixing board, reel-to-reel tape systems, maintain ancient awesome technology because it sounds better than protools.
3) Touring sound companies / engineers. With the death of arena sized bands will come the death of arena sized sound support. It really pains me to imagine a world in which the only huge shows left will be Jay-Z and the like. These tours are very expensive to fund upfront, even though they certainly make the money back. Indie labels just don't have the resources to wager 3 mil every summer.
I'm not saying the old system is awesome, but there are a whole lot of people employed and instrumental in the making of music on all sides.
wasnt sure where else to put this, considering i dont have your email address.