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The Freeloaders - How a generation of file-sharers is ruining the future of entertainment
The Atlantic ^ | May 2010 | Megan McArdle

Posted on 05/07/2010 2:01:58 PM PDT by a fool in paradise

...computational neuroscientist Anders Sandberg recently noted that although we have strong instinctive feelings about ownership, intellectual property doesn’t always fit into that framework....

..Optimists argue that the music industry has coped before with disruptive new technology. Until recordings came along, songs, not singers, were Big Business. So while copyright law allocated royalties for performances, it said nothing about what happened when you recorded those performances and sold thousands of copies of the recording. Only after protracted legal maneuvering did we work out an arrangement that allowed both businesses to thrive.

...collectors switching from cassette and vinyl to CD swelled the music industry’s coffers in the 1980s and ’90s, so the eventual softening of sales is hardly surprising. The concert industry is indeed booming despite the downturn. And people who admit to downloading music illegally may actually spend more money on recorded music than people who don’t. One assumes they plump up concert revenues as well.

...Concert-promotion mogul Michael Rapino has said that just 2 percent of Americans attend more than a couple of concerts a year...

...To be sure, today’s 20-something file-sharer may someday pay $200 to watch Vampire Weekend rock the Astrodome. Or maybe not; the Internet tends to fragment audiences. Generation X, of which I am a member, was probably the last to grow up with the Top 40 and only a few TV stations—and the kind of common taste that this structure instilled. The bounty of the World Wide Web encourages niche interests....

But the broader music industry, like other entertainment fields, has always worked on a tournament model: a lot of starving artists hoping to be among the few who make it big....

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature; Computers/Internet; Music/Entertainment; Society
KEYWORDS: bigmedia; clintonlegacy; goonch; jpb; mp3s; musicindustry; thoughtcontrol
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"The Freeloaders - How a generation of womb-to-the-tomb socialists is ruining the future of America."

Wonder why The Atlantic didn't bother to write THAT piece...

1 posted on 05/07/2010 2:01:58 PM PDT by a fool in paradise
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To: a fool in paradise

Ironic that the entertainment industry doesn’t like freeloaders but have no problem strapping hard workers with the burden of paying for welfare bums.


2 posted on 05/07/2010 2:03:35 PM PDT by avacado
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To: a fool in paradise

“Avatar” Breaks Sales Records on Blu-ray and DVD
http://mashable.com/2010/04/26/avatar-blu-ray-sales-record/

‘Avatar’ to break worldwide sales record this week
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2010/01/25/avatar_to_break_worldwide_sales_record_this_week

2009 concert haul
1. U2; $123 million; $7,689,626; $93.77.
2. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; $94.5; $2,147,288; $87.94.
3. Elton John/Billy Joel; $88; $3,259,794; $125.61
4. Britney Spears; $82.5; $1,618,381; $88.04.
5. AC/DC; $77.9; $1,657,220; $83.76.
6. Kenny Chesney; $71.1; $1,421,271; $68.73.
7. Jonas Brothers; $69.8; $1,341,990; $59.78.
8. Dave Matthews Band; $56.9; $1,211,005; $52.97.
9. Fleetwood Mac; $54.5; $1,067,620; $97.02.
10. Metallica; $53.4; $1,525,402; $65.16.
11. Nickelback; $47.4; $729,231; $47.42.
12. “Walking With Dinosaurs” ; $46.2; $1,126,829; $39.77.
13. Miley Cyrus; $45; $1,045,645; $68.87.
14. Trans-Siberian Orchestra; $43.7; $606,944; $44.68.
15. Eagles; $42.8; $1,710,773; $129.30.
16. Keith Urban; $42.7; $712,078; $63.27.
17. Celine Dion; $42.6; $1,934,759; $108.24.
18. Rascal Flatts; $42.2; $766,863; $54.84.
19. Coldplay; $40.8; $1,046,154; $61.79.
20. Paul McCartney; $40.7; $5,087,500; $121.57.

Oh dear - looks like the poorhouse for the entertainers....


3 posted on 05/07/2010 2:04:51 PM PDT by relictele (.)
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To: a fool in paradise

Most of it has died real quick in the real world and when it gets on the net it’s just a curiosity.


4 posted on 05/07/2010 2:06:41 PM PDT by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2013)
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To: avacado

I hear that. I always chuckle when some liberal artist complains about his/her royalties, but has no problem with asking other to “redistribute their wealth”.


5 posted on 05/07/2010 2:06:51 PM PDT by ABQHispConservative (A good Blue Dog is an unelected Blue Dog. Ditto Rino's!)
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To: 537cant be wrong; Aeronaut; bassmaner; Bella_Bru; Big Guy and Rusty 99; Brian Allen; cgk; ...
...To be sure, today’s 20-something file-sharer may someday pay $200 to watch Vampire Weekend rock the Astrodome. Or maybe not; the Internet tends to fragment audiences. Generation X, of which I am a member, was probably the last to grow up with the Top 40 and only a few TV stations—and the kind of common taste that this structure instilled. The bounty of the World Wide Web encourages niche interests....

But the broader music industry, like other entertainment fields, has always worked on a tournament model: a lot of starving artists hoping to be among the few who make it big....

Time was, the music industry was made up of a lot of regionally located companies (Motown and Fortune in Detroit, Chess in Chicago, Sun and Stax in Memphis, King-Federal in Cincinnati, Starday and Duke-Peacock in Houston, Imperial in New Orleans...) in addition to Decca, Columbia, Capitol, and later big boys like Atlantic.

These got gobbled up (Stax by Atlantic, Duke-Peacock by ABC, and so on). Now it is Warner Bros., Sony, and a few other major monopolies.

SubPop was the last fluke rock and roll label to get on radio coast to coast. And SubPop's acts of the last 15 years haven't gotten the same radio or tv exposure despite them being "something different" than the majors offer as well as something other than "Nirvana-PearlJam-Soundgarden" retreads.

Time was that a band gigged around awhile, put out a single and got picked up for regional and national distribution. Now they are all manufactured. If you ARE a viable band for 5 years, the majors don't WANT you unless they can completely own your back catalog (as happened with Sympathy For The Record Industry's White Stripes releases, all released on a handshake).

Plenty of talent there. The labels won't touch it. The public doesn't want the crap they push same as home viewers don't want the same crap Big Media is pushing as "news" on tv or in newspapers or magazines.

Big Media's circle jerk has petered out. The public has gone elsewhere. Call it "niche markets". It is UNTAPPED markets. Same with the tea party frustration over the political establishment evermore pushing this country into socialism and open borders in spite of public protest against it from voting members of BOTH political parties.

6 posted on 05/07/2010 2:13:06 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (The hysteria of Matthewsism and Andersonism has led to a Tea Party Scare that is unAmerican.)
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To: a fool in paradise
When the cassette tape came out it was going to ruin the music industry.

When the VCR came out it was going to ruin the movie industry.

When the burnable CD came out is was going to ruin the music industry.

When the burnable DVD came out it was going to ruin the movie industry

When the mp3 came out it was going to ruin the music industry.

We have been hearing this for the better part of half a century. Yet the millionaires in Hollywood just keep building bigger mansions.
7 posted on 05/07/2010 2:15:15 PM PDT by GonzoGOP (There are millions of paranoid people in the world and they are all out to get me.)
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To: relictele

Paul McCartney sold $69,000 in albums last year for his complete post-Beatles catalog.

Paul didn’t blame “downloaders”. He blamed EMI for taking him for granted and not bothering to promote his recorded works (unless they have the word BEATLES in the name).

So he moved his catalog to a smaller label, Concord, where he will be a bigger fish and more favorably considered. Just as David Bowie did in the late 1980s when he was pissed to find his albums put out on cheaply mastered CDs and thrown into the “budget releases” ghetto. He signed with Ryko who put out remastered editions with bonus cuts and heavy promotion.


8 posted on 05/07/2010 2:16:10 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (The hysteria of Matthewsism and Andersonism has led to a Tea Party Scare that is unAmerican.)
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To: GonzoGOP

Ahmet Ertegün at Atlantic Records made less money after he had to finally pay Ruth Brown her royalties decades later too.


9 posted on 05/07/2010 2:18:06 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (The hysteria of Matthewsism and Andersonism has led to a Tea Party Scare that is unAmerican.)
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To: a fool in paradise

There are far greater abusers, freeloaders that plague this country beyond the petty file-sharer. They are the >50% of self-styled americans that do not pay Federal Income Taxes.


10 posted on 05/07/2010 2:20:47 PM PDT by Gaffer ("Profiling: The only profile I need is a chalk outline around their dead ass!")
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To: a fool in paradise

Good assessment.

I never aspired to be a recording artist...I just like playing. The last two bands I was in had websites where you could listen to mp3’s of our songs and short clips of performances. We earned our keep by performing not selling records.

I guess my ambitions are out of step with Corporate America...


11 posted on 05/07/2010 2:23:00 PM PDT by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
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To: relictele

The ones who are hurt are the songwriters / publishers, etc.

Illegal downloading is stealing...this “but look how much they make (the artists) crap sounds WAY TOO MUCH like Obama saying that at some point your’ve made enough money...what right does anyone have to say that about anyone else?


12 posted on 05/07/2010 2:23:26 PM PDT by Moby Grape (Formerly Impeach the Boy...name change necessary after the Marxist won)
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To: a fool in paradise
...Concert-promotion mogul Michael Rapino has said that just 2 percent of Americans attend more than a couple of concerts a year...

Well, if they didn't charge and arm and a leg for the tickets, plus fees, plus taxes, just to see something on stage from 300 yards away, I'd go to more of them.

13 posted on 05/07/2010 2:28:00 PM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Liberal Logic: Mandatory health insurance is constitutional - enforcing immigration law is not.)
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To: a fool in paradise
And I'm just wondering what happened to the next generation of great rock bands.

After subpop, NOTHING.

Nobody new who has anything resembling original talent. Nobody.

14 posted on 05/07/2010 2:29:09 PM PDT by Mariner
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To: IYAS9YAS
When I can buy a performers entire collection of CDs for less than the price of a couple hour concert, I have a hard time convincing myself to pay that much money to see them.

My favorite bands aren't huge ones anyway, but ones which will fill a couple hundred seat music club when they come through town and charge $10 or $15 for a ticket. Once a band starts having "people" to lug their equipment around, they are probably getting too big and expensive to see.

15 posted on 05/07/2010 2:34:24 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (I am so immune to satire that I ate three Irish children after reading Swift's "A Modest Proposal")
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To: Moby Grape

There is a VAST difference between songwriters/artists and publishers/copyright holders beginning with the fact that they are often not the same person/entity.


16 posted on 05/07/2010 2:34:27 PM PDT by relictele (.)
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To: GonzoGOP; a fool in paradise; relictele
Kid Rock Starves to Death
RIAA Sues Radio Stations For Giving Away Free Music

gotta love The Onion
17 posted on 05/07/2010 2:37:16 PM PDT by verum ago (The US Armed Forces: if you mess with the best, you die like the rest!)
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To: Mariner

I feel old and grumpy when I say it, but I agree. I like a very wide array of music, but the stuff that passes for pop today leaves me cold. It’s plastic and soulless and derivative. I’m not paying for that dreck.


18 posted on 05/07/2010 2:40:51 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy
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To: Moby Grape

I used to go to friends houses with stacks of records under my arm. We’d sit and play them and argue about them.

I think it was the earliest form of “file sharing.”

Later, when playing in a band, we did covers, because that’s what the frats wanted to hear.

Around the same time, cassettes came out and you could could stack 2 hour’s worth of favorite album cuts back to back.

Nowadays people share music through ISPs they pay up to $50 bucks or more a month. They pay these fees in order to access and share media.

Too bad for the record execs. I can understand their position, but their rights to their “intellectual property”— rights that last much longer and are far cheaper to secure than patents— do not trump my rights to ‘security within lodgings” against unreasonable search and seizure.


19 posted on 05/07/2010 2:46:01 PM PDT by tsomer
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To: relictele

The President has noted that clearly at some point you have earned enough money.

When do they give back?


20 posted on 05/07/2010 2:46:42 PM PDT by edcoil (If I had 1 cent for every dollar the government saved, Bill Gates and I would be friends.)
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