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Why surprised and why not?

First: 4th Quarter. Everybody is making CDs to give as holiday presents. Music downloading increases. This is a surprise?

Second:
"NPD will continue to monitor whether it's a temporary seasonal blip or a trend that suggests that the industry should be more aggressive in capping the use of illegal methods to acquire digital music."

Who cares about "the industry"? We care about the artists, and there is still no evidence that file-sharing hurts the industry or the artists. To those who failed economics, music is a product that can only be sold by convincing the consumer that they want it through either giving it away free, or by word-of-mouth. Nobody just buys a tons of CDs in the hopes they might like some of the music. Either they already heard it on the radio (free), they heard it from a friend (free), they downloaded it (free), or someone they trust told them they had to get it. For the last point, the consumer would still either download it (free), or at least play it in the store (free) if it was available.

The more people who hear a piece of music, the more people will buy it. The hardest part is to get people to listen the first time. File-sharing allows them to hear tons of music that otherwise would be ignored.

"The industry" always fights any new technology. They know that their business plan was only possible if distribution channels were limited. They also know it is much easier to sell millions of records of one artist than to sell one record each for millions of artists. By controlling the channels, they are able to keep it easy for themselves. File-trading is "bad" because it allows the consumers to educate themselves, and an educated consumer is unlikely to buy the artist-of-the-month.

Studies done anywhere outside the U.S. show that file-trading leads to more album sales. In the U.S., the studies are bought by the RIAA. Yet they have sold more records in the last few years than ever before. They lowered the price so the financial returns are lower, but 2001 and 2002 had the highest sales of albums ever. 2003 may have been hurt by the slowdown in file-trading due to the RIAA suing its customers.

The sterotypical file-trader is still the poor teenager. They are unable to afford much music at the current prices. With file-trading, they find music that is worth saving their pennies to buy.

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I have never used a file-trading program. I am a musician. I want my music to be heard. File-trading is a good method of building a customer base. The more people who hear my music, the more people will buy my albums and come to my shows.

Very soon most new artists (not including creations of "the industry") will post their own music online. They will ask for sponsorship (donations) from people who enjoy their music. The sponsors will get access to the better quality files, get priority seating at shows, and the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing they supported the artist. The sponsors will not worry that "the industry" took all the money.

Most artists have never worried that people are listening to their music without paying. When you go to a club or bar to hear original music, they give you free CDs. Yes, they were probably paid to be there, but they want you to come back so they can get paid again FOR THE PERFORMACNCE. CDs are just the calling card.

Posted by: solprovider   Posted on: 01/16/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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