Music rebels seek to tame P2P

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Sure, use the public's equipment to make a mint

<"There's nothing we'd like better than to see peer-to-peer (services) selling our music," said one top label executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They just can't be allowing people to steal it at the same time." >

Snicker. Yeah right. (And lest us not forget, it is not stealing, it is copyright infringement.)

The reason P2P works is because of sharing. Somone allows other people to use their computer because they both get something out of it. It is a (more or less) equal community.

But if the recording industry wishes to use (abuse?) a P2P network to only hawk their wares, the equal relationship ceases, and that network, since it is distributed and thus owned by everyone (else), will fail. Who is going to want to help someone else make a profit if they get nothing out of it?

The only way for this to work is if the commercial user gives something substantial in return for the use of the network. Otherwise, the network community will more than likely respond with a "get your own damn servers" type of response.

As Jm said: "When the media companies provide a good service at a good price, the copyrighted file swapping on a mass scale will cease."

You said it.

Most of the downloads are now just way overpriced. If I can join a CD club like BMG where the disks average somewhere about $5, that's roughly 50 cents a song, and I get it already on disk, with jewel case, with package art and inserts and often printed lyrics, and WITH RIGHTS OF USE as I am accustomed to.

To me, a CD is way MORE valuable than downloaded songs which cost LESS to distribute, yet downloaded songs are priced twice as high.

The advantage of the download, is that we can get songs a la carte. Some of them are worth more than others to me, and I would bet to others as well.

Something that I think would help, would be a tiered pricing scheme...

...like something that would allow the bulk of old songs to be obtained at 25 cents or less apiece, with newer, hotter tracks going for up to 2 dollars or so, and everything in between - I think would be successful - it would make money for the owners, and be able to be appreciated by the public.

But this scheme is not tied to P2P - it can be done with company servers or whatever. But what might be successful on P2P, is to offer the songs at half price on the P2P networks, or perhaps to offer only the least expensive ones there.

Otherwise, whose gonna give up their own computer resources?

Dan

Posted by: Dan__   Posted on: 11/16/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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