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Music Industry P2P Claims Dismantled
Canarock writes "First Monday runs a great
article this month from Canadian
law professor Michael Geist that dismantles the recording
industry's claims about the peer-to-peer. Using actual data from
Canada, Piercing
the P2P Myths, demonstrates that the loss claims are greatly exaggerated
and that P2P has had little, if any impact on the income of the artists themselves." From the article: "The Canadian government has been the target of intense lobbying for stronger copyright legislation in recent months. Led by the music industry, which claims that it has experienced significant financial losses due to music downloading, the campaign culminated in November 2004 with a lobby day on Parliament Hill."
Go read the article, ok? The conclusion was that music downloading is not responsible for the ills of the music industry. You may agree or disagree with that, but please don't just pull comments out of your ass.
Studies showed sale of singles where down, this of course was due to nast evil p2p, they did, however fail to mention sale of albums was up, maybe people realised that an album has 10ish tracks at £12 when a single has 1 at £3-4.
"I may be full of crap about this game, and I may be wrong, and that's fine." -Jack Thompson
Well, there are likely some sale of lower costs items (such as CDs) that people would have paid for, but didn't because it was also available free. The existance of paid-download music sites demonstrates that.
On the other hand, this is offset by people that wouldn't have bought it because of the price, buying it at a later date. For example, most people won't buy a retail copy of office, or photoshop, or music they haven't tried - it's too expensive to risk the money on.
However, when they work for a business, or have more disposable income they'll go back and buy what they're familar with. This is one thing that keeps photoshop going - people pirate it at home, so are familiar with it and buy it at work. Trying an artist for free, and liking them, can boost sales later - this is the whole principle of music radio, of course.
What the RIAA members dislike most is not the loss of sales, various studies have shown that P2P if anything increases sales. What it does do is take control of promotion out of their hands, and that really is their business killer.
Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
"So now you're only screwing the marketing, engineering and management"
Apparently you didn't read the article, or are just trolling.
What the article is saying is that piracy accounts for only token losses to the industry. In fact, sales are down primarily due to two factors: Wal-Mart's refusal to pay more than $9.72 to the RIAA for CD's, and declining shelf space in stores due to increased demand for DVD's.
The right answer is for the RIAA to lower CD's so that they cost about $8 retail. I belong to the BMG record club that's typically what I pay for CD's (shipped). I buy about 4-8 CD's per month. Do you know how many CD's I've paid > $12 for? None. And I have a collection of about 400 CD's.
For the $18-20 for CD's in a place like Virgin, I suspect you'd have to be either desperate or stupid to pay that much.
No matter how much the RIAA wants to spin this, its pricing (as in "too much money") that is killing the industry. And they're looking for lawmakers to ensure profits. Sorry Charlie.
uhh.. isn't the whole point in canada that IT IS NOT A CRIME currently and the music industry would like to make it one?
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
If that's the way you feel about it, perhaps you should read this article, "Courtney Love Does the Math". And she should know.
/
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love
I don't buy CD's anymore, simply because they are ridiculously expensive.
According to the article, the average price of a CD was $10.95 (CAD) in 2004, and it has gone down since then.
With the current exchange rate (1 EUR = 1.57716 CAD 1 CAD = 0.634051 EUR ), that is about 6.94 EUR. I would happily pay 7 euros for some CD's.
The thing is, the average CD price here (the Netherlands) is about 20 euros! (source: dutch free record shop website)
Would you pay 31.50 CAD or more for a frigging CD?!?
I mean, that's only 354% more expensive.
Screw you guys, you're not getting any more of my money.
To top it off, the engineers, producers, record execs, recording studios, mangers, session players, etc. All get paid either as soon a their work is done, or after the project is completed, and paid in full. The artist (s) and songwriter (s) will get a little up front, but this is a loan, and anything they get is a percentage of sales after costs are deducted. I was a session player and in the biz as artist and producer for over 12 years, so I know first hand what goes on. I saw many bands finish their CD, have a release party and they all had to get up early to go to their day jobs or back to thier squalid apts., while the execs, and producers all were driving new cars. A group called Traffic (Stevie Winwood) had a song that laid it out "the Low Spark of High Hells Boys" : "and the man in the suit just bought a new car from the profit he made from your dreams."
So the RIAA is full of crap. They are only defending their income, not the artists'. Once again, just like always, they use artists to further their cause. BTW, you should read what happens when an artist tries to get them to help him or to cough up money.
You can find out what is being proposed as amendments to the Copyright Act.
I have probably violated some section by copying the text below.
The Bill would amend the Copyright Act to implement the copyright protections required by two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties: the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). Proposed amendments in this regard are as follows:
* the existing exclusive communication right of authors would be clarified to include control over the making available of their material on the Internet;
* sound recording makers and performers would be provided the right to control the making available of their sound recordings and performances on the Internet;
* the circumvention for infringing purposes of technological protection measures (TPMs) applied to copyright material would constitute an infringement of copyright;
* the alteration or removal of rights management information (RMI) embedded in copyright material, when done to further or conceal infringement, would constitute an infringement of copyright;
* rights holders would be provided with the ability to control the first distribution of their material in tangible form;
* the term of protection in photographs would always be the life of the photographer plus 50 years;
* a full reproduction right for performers in sound recordings would be introduced;
* the term of protection provided to sound recording makers in respect of their sound recordings would be modified so as to extend to 50 years from the publication of the sound recording (the term of protection provided to performers in respect of their recorded performances would be modified in consequence); and
* performers would be provided with moral rights in their fixed and live performances.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) Liability
* ISPs would be exempt from copyright liability in relation to their activities as intermediaries.
* A "notice and notice" regime in relation to the hosting and file-sharing activities of an ISP's subscribers would be provided for. When an ISP receives notice from a rights holder that one of its subscribers is allegedly hosting or sharing infringing material, the ISP would be required to forward the notice to the subscriber, and to keep a record of relevant information for a specified time.
Educational and Research Access Issues
* The current exception that permits the performance or display of copyright material for educational purposes within the classroom would be modified to enable students in remote locations to view a lecture using network technology, either live or at a more convenient time.
* Material that may be photocopied and provided to students pursuant to an educational institution's blanket licence with a collective society would be permitted to be delivered to the students electronically without additional copyright liability. Provisions in this regard would apply until such time as the collective societies' blanket licenses authorize such electronic delivery.
* In the above instances, educational institutions would be required to adopt safeguards to prevent misuse of the copyright material.
* The electronic interlibrary desktop delivery of certain copyright material, notably academic articles, directly to library patrons would be permitted, provided effective safeguards were in place to prevent misuse of the material.
Photography Issues
* Treatment of photographers would be harmonized with other creators with respect to authorship and copyright ownership. At the same time, the interests of consumers in the use of photographs commissioned for domestic purposes would be protected.
Educational Use of Internet Material
* The government will initiate a public consultation process on the issue of
I'm sure most of you have noticed the little notice that says that these discs (the CD side of a DualDisc), wont work on all cd players because they don't conform to CD standards. I see more and more CD's with that notice coming out, and I see at work (I work in a record shop, but it's not as cool as Empire Records, but, what could be?) many people trying to bring these discs back because they don't work in their players (discmans, home stereos, car players, computers, whatever), but they can't get a refund because what CD store gives refunds for open CD's? Not any I've been to. Hell, you can't even try it in the store, because even though may work in the store (which, none did in any of my store's players), it still might not work in yours.
So, we have discs that won't work in every player, no way of finding out what players they do work in without buying one and trying it in your players (their website doesn't say more than what I've told you, http://www.sonybmg.com/dualdisc/), and then, no way of getting your money back if they don't work. What I see resulting is a growing number of pissed off customers, who will likely download the next album (and the one they did buy) before spending money on a disc that won't likely work.
I know I don't buy any CD has that warning.
Artists don't make their money from CD sales. Most artists earn only a few cents off each CD sale. Labels and music stores earn by far the largest profits off CD sales.
Where artists make their money at is concerts and, to a lesser extent, merchandising.
So.. of course artists aren't being harmed by P2P. Anyone that knows diddly-squat about the music industry would know that. If anything, artists benefit from piracy... with them making so much off concerts, and so little off album sales.. the additional interest that P2P might draw to them could very well boost concert sales.
/dev/random
18 Albums and 25 Juno awards (the Canadian Grammy) from 1983 to 2001. Cochrane had one 13, so over half of those BEFORE "Life is a Highway" came out on the album, that in the year of it's release, so more albums in Canada the ANY OTHER ALBUM - foreign or otherwise. To call this one minor hit is simply wrong.
This all in the year that Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" won the Grammy and fellow Canadian's K.D. Lang and Celine Dion won 2 of the top Grammy's.
So yeah. Rock star.
Juno Awards
Year
Nomination Outcome
2003 The Canadian Music Hall of Fame Inductee
2000 Best Male Artist
1996 Male Vocalist of the Year
1996 Album of the Year: Ragged Ass Road
1993 Songwriter of the Year
1993 Best Selling Album [Foreign or Domestic] Mad Mad World
1993 Canadian Entertainer of the Year
1992 Producer of the Year: All The King`s Men
1992 Songwriter of the Year Winner
1992 Male Vocalist of the Year Winner
1992 Single of the Year: Life Is A Highway Winner
1992 Album of the Year: Mad Mad World Winner
1990 Group of the Year (Tom Cochrane & Red Rider)
1990 Album of the Year (Tom Cochrane & Red Rider): Victory Day
1990 Canadian Entertainer of the Year (Tom Cochrane & Red Rider)
1989 Composer of the Year Winner
1989 Group of the Year (Tom Cochrane & Red Rider)
1989 Canadian Entertainer of the Year (Tom Cochrane & Red Rider)
1987 Composer of the Year
1987 Group of the Year (Tom Cochrane & Red Rider) Winner
1987 Canadian Entertainer of the Year (Tom Cochrane & Red Rider)
1984 Group of the Year (Red Rider)
1984 Album of the Year (Red Rider): Neruda
1982 Most Promising Group of the Year (Red Rider)
1981 Most Promising Group of the Year (Red Rider)
Which brought us, in the heyday of SNL, Bob and Doug McKenzie, and fame to Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, when they were told to "do some thing Canadian" to meet the requirement.
That was SCTV, not Saturday Night Live.
You're neglecting the fact that most people listen to this stuff for some reason. Else the shelves wouldn't be lined with the stuff.
I totally agree with the parent. I listen to Triple J for all of the above-mentioned artists and many more! Hey even William Shatner appeared on Triple J's Hottest 100 this year (with the single "Common People".). But a week or two ago on the Triple J current affairs show "hack", someone suggested in an interview that INDIE labels were increasing sales at the expense of the mainstream labels. Which means the p2p isn't really affecting either labels.
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