[advocacy] The record industry strikes back

[Daniel James]

> I meant only the aspect that allows artists to
> release their works on the net and get paid.

I think PayPal or similar donations are probably the best way for 
musicians to get paid at the moment. I don't think any artist could 
be guaranteed to have a 'hit' if they released SDMI-type files, 
including the really famous ones. I hope when they do appear for 
high-profile releases, they will be boycotted by listeners, who know 
when they're being fleeced. As for less well known artists, what are 
their chances of making a living out of pay-to-play download files? 

> I assume that you are tying to argue that most artists
> cannot make money with the record industry, neither.

Yes. Even a lot of the ones who have been well known in the past. By 
any analysis, the proportion of very rich (and still alive) musicians 
is a tiny one. Well-known DJ's and producers get more demo CD's in 
the post than they could ever listen to, let alone play on air or 
invite for a session - there must be millions of musicians. An artist 
has to be really world-wide popular before they can dictate their own 
terms to the record company - and there's only a handful of those.

> In terms of
> computer programs, third companies can make money with
> additional services and give support to the
> programmers.  How does it work in the case of GPL
> media contents in practice? 

Touring, media appearances and merchandising, just like for the 
artists with a record deal. Of course, the artist has to make sure 
that they're not getting the same deal on T-shirts as they get for 
CDs...

> You mentioned CD selling
> but, for example, burning Linux distributions to CDs
> and sending them to users are not the major income of
> the third companies dealing with Linux. 

Sure, but the economics of music CD's are not the same as software. I 
think most people would be happy to pay $10 for a 'silver' CD with a 
good booklet if they thought $9 went to the artist. Besides, you 
don't get charged $5000 for a Michael Jackson CD with a ten-listener 
licence.

> aren't you going to advocate
> on the net?

That's what I'm trying to do! Contacts with artists and journalists 
on music papers/magazines are needed especially. Any leads?

Daniel

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