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Bon Jovi Tries New Approach To Fight Piracy
Dudio writes "80s-era rock band Bon Jovi is taking a novel approach to fighting piracy of their upcoming album, Bounce. Retail CDs will be distributed with a unique serial number with which the purchaser can register in order to receive such exclusives as prioritized concert ticket purchases and unreleased music. Finally, somebody in the entertainment industry is attempting to adapt to the changing market rather than rushing to protect an outdated business model." All Bon Jovi jokes aside, it is nice to see a fresh approach.
Um, yeah. Unreleased until it's released to the paying customers, who then pass it off to the non-paying "customers." The prioritized ticket thing, on the other hand, actually makes sense.
IWARS.
People, in general, disappoint me. Politicians even more so.
Well, lets not forget the efforts and foresigth of people like David Bowie who is totally hip to the values of Slashdot. He feels that copyright will be obsolete in 10 years, and he thinks its a good idea.
www.enthea.org
Daft Punk put a credit card sized card inside their CD with a unique number were you could download MP3 singles of remixes and live versions of the song from a special website.
So the people who bought the CD could trade those as well?
We Build Beautiful Websites
If you buy the new Counting Crows CD (and you should, because it's quite good) it gives you access to a secret bit of their site with unreleased tracks and whatnot. Makes for an interesting reverse engineering project.
it's not going to stop until you wise up, no it's not going to stop. so just give up.
Problem: RIAA products overpriced given what you get, people don't want to pay for them.
Sympton: People pirate the music instead.
Solution: Add value to the CD that makes people more willing to buy it.
The RIAA in the past has been trying to cure the symptoms, without attacking the core problem. This is a MAJOR step in the right direction.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Honest World -
If it fails, they made shitty music which wasn't marketed well.
If it succeeds, its due to better music and perhaps the added incentive of the aforementioned offer.
Marketing world -
If it fails, its due to blatant piracy
If it succeeds, it didn't succeed enough. Piracy was still rampant.
Think nothing is impossible? Try slamming a revolving door.
I really hate when people compare the sharing of mp3 files to software piracy. Why? Because the two are totally different.
Music has been broadcast over the airwaves for years and years and then some more years. For most of those years, there has existed the technology to copy those songs onto cassette tapes and other mediums and listen to those songs at a later time; and numerous times.
Growing up, I always recorded my favorite songs off the radio; and I believe, just like recording a TV show, it was perfectly fine for me to do so. In fact, wasn't it Sony, one of the companies that is now whining about music sharing, that sold me the ability to record radio broadcasts? Why, I believe it was!
Since the radio reaches nearly every corner of our country and nearly everone owns the technology to record that music, I don't see a difference between that and sharing an mp3 file with your friends, other than you get to cut out the retarded DJ who always talks over the song like some dimwit fart.
A couple more interesting things to note, in Japan, they have stores that will rent you CDs, for a couple hundred yen, in much the same way American's rent VHS and DVD movies. Those same stores also sell very specialized cassette tapes so you can record the CD instead of having to pay around $30.00 for it. Since the stores are not owned by the record companies, I don't see a difference between this and sharing mp3s with your friends (other than you've cut out the middle man).
Also, you most public libraries will loan you music CDs for free.
On the otherhand, software has NEVER been broadcast over public airwaves or freely distributed in your public library. Nor are there stores that will rent you software and then the media to use to copy it. Nor has the means to copy software ever been commercially provided with the copying of software being its primary marketed function.
I think that the record industry is too damn stupid to provide their customers with a product in the form their customers demand and I think they are using an apples to oranges comparison of software piracy to sharing music to force the governments to pass laws that maintain the status quo of their current, obviously undesirable, business plans.
And all of that is why I hate hearing music sharing compared to software piracy.
Enforcement through perks is always better than enforcement through military tactics. Rather, I should say it works more efficiently without as much controversy.
It may not be perfect, but its a step in the right direction. If nothing else, it does cut down on the backlash. And lord knows, you get the RIAA and anyone else in a screaming match, you might as well be back in third grade. Nothing productive truly comes from backlash, aside from the obvious statement that people are pissed off. We already know that. So steps like this need to be made in order to find the most widely selected solution.
At the beginning of the decade, they were asking some amount for lifetime membership in their fanclub. I don't remember the amount, but it was between $15 and $35. Got you a bunch of stickers, a newsletter, etc.
By the end of the decade, they were asking around $35 a year for a glossy magazine-style newsletter, preferential ticket sales, and backstage potential. (They were also selling 1/10th the albums.)
Doing it this way makes a lot of sense to me. Instead of charging extra to join the fanclub, put those unique codes on everything, and let folks punch in codes for everything they buy. Bought the CD? Yeah, we can hook you up with good seats at a good price. Bought the last five CD's, plus posters, videos and t-shirts? Front row center, baby!
Reward the folks who are dedicated to you, and all that stuff.
I'm going to go out on a limb here, and ask if you've listened to any Tool lately. :)
...and remember, this is coming from someone who almost solely listens to pre-1980 music. :) I live off Zep, Sabbath, Tull, etc (along with the likes of James Taylor, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and the Beatles). Give AEnima and Undertow a shot - you may be suprised.
Every single one of Tool's albums (with the sole exception of Opiate - it's more of a "garage" album) is masterfully produced and explores some very deep topics - Jungian "breaking through" and connecting with the Freudian alter-ego in AEnima, and dealing with prison rape in Undertow. Much of what you've said applies directly to Tool's music - regardless of musical taste (it may be a little "heavy metal" for some) it's amazing work, all of it.
While they're becoming more and more of a commercial success, Tool is still one of the best bands around. And they're coming to Tallahassee Nov. 7! w00t! (Sorry, I degress...)
Brandon
What you're paying for is the probably 50+ YEARS total practice, training, shitty unpaid gigs, rehearsal, and the honing of the individual artists' skills, all of which together have created a band which you want to go and see. The three hours is the time your butt is in the seat, not the "working".
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PGP Key ID 0xCB8FF658
Today's recipe for being a sucessfull group:
/obligatory
- Include baby baby 10x in each song
- Take the good ol' I love you and I want you back theme, stir a bit, remix...
- Color your hair, put a lot of gel in there and shake well.
- Travel almost undress, thus revealing your new 100% remolded boobs (or totally fake skin tan)
- Move your back a lot
- Find a kewl nick-name
obligatory... - ??? - succeedddd!!!!
Now, why are people not buying albums anymore?!?
I'd rather be sailing...
On the otherhand, software has NEVER been broadcast over public airwaves or freely distributed in your public library. Nor are there stores that will rent you software and then the media to use to copy it. Nor has the means to copy software ever been commercially provided with the copying of software being its primary marketed function.
outstanding idea. why isn't there free software (ie: debian, slackware, or [insert your favorite distro here]) available from libraries?
This would be a great way to introduce adventurous people to free software et al. Also, it would give FS a larger presence in the education field.
get out and visit your local library today...
//radiotakeover.
No, seriously... Besides going cold turkey internet, subscriber base and everything that goes with a downloading service, what Bon Jovi is doing is THE ONLY way to lure fans back from the brink of piracy. it's all about added value and so far, the labels have been doing nothing but subtractive value marketing. MP3 added value because I could at very least burn my own CDs, let alone ~ahem~ sample them before I buy. You can damn near do anything to MP3. There is so much added value in the digital format it's pathetic and the best the Labels can think of is encryption and new media formats? Not to stroke myself, but me and others have been saying this for years now-- The only way to combat this if you aren't going to move away from CDs is pack in shit with the CDs. Autographed guitar pics, tickets (their method is probably easier) and other stuff you simply can't get online. hell, I might just buy the CD as a show of support. This is actually one submission I totally agree with... Somebody is finally doing something right here, so support the bad man (it's like that 'going to a crappy video game movie' thing to 'support the cause').
You need a FREE iPod Nano