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Would you pay 5 cents for a song?
The Globe and Mail ^ | Wednesday, March 9, 2005 | GUY DIXON

Posted on 03/09/2005 1:41:36 PM PST by r5boston

An academic at McGill University has a simple plan to stop the plague of unauthorized music downloads on the Internet. But it entails changing the entire music industry as we know it, and Apple Computers, which may have the power to make the change, is listening.

Peering out from under his de rigueur cap, music-industry veteran Sandy Pearlman, a former producer of the Clash and now a visiting scholar at McGill, spoke with a kind of nervous glee while describing his idea at the Canadian Music Week conference in Toronto last week.

Pearlman proposes putting all recorded music on a robust search engine -- Google would be an ideal choice, but even iTunes might work -- and charging an insignificant fee of, say, five cents a song. In addition, a 1 per cent sales tax would be placed on Internet services and new computers -- two industries that many argue have profited enormously from rampant file-sharing, but haven't had to compensate artists.

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


TOPICS: Technical
KEYWORDS: apple; google; intellectualproperty; itunes
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1 posted on 03/09/2005 1:41:37 PM PST by r5boston
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To: r5boston

Sure.


2 posted on 03/09/2005 1:43:17 PM PST by Perdogg (Rumsfeld for President - 2008)
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To: r5boston

I'm sitting next to a large box with about three hundred compact disks that I paid retail for before mp3's were the rage. As far as I'm concerned I already gave at the office.


3 posted on 03/09/2005 1:44:37 PM PST by SpaceBar
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To: r5boston

Just tax it...that will make it better.


4 posted on 03/09/2005 1:45:01 PM PST by fsorbello (This space available.)
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To: r5boston; All
In addition, a 1 per cent sales tax would be placed on Internet services and new computers -- two industries that many argue have profited enormously from rampant file-sharing, but haven't had to compensate artists.

Sorry, no sale- the power to tax is the power to destroy.

5 posted on 03/09/2005 1:45:04 PM PST by backhoe (-30-)
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To: r5boston

heck yeah- it is about time they priced things what they are worth

$0.00 cost to them when I download. (ok electricity, servers...etc.)

but at a nickel I would easily download a few bucks worth every week- as opposed to the $ZERO I have paid for music in the last 15 years.


6 posted on 03/09/2005 1:45:20 PM PST by Mr. K (I plan put my "Run Hillary Run" bumper sticker on the front of my car)
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To: r5boston

Yes but no more


7 posted on 03/09/2005 1:47:12 PM PST by Sprite518
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To: SpaceBar
I already gave at the office.

The music business isn't a charity, and the money people spend for copyrighted music isn't a donation.

8 posted on 03/09/2005 1:47:52 PM PST by Chunga
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To: r5boston
These are the same folks that give the big record companies compensation from the sale of blank data CDs on the assumption that even good Canadians pirate copyrighted works.

By the way, I am the audiobook manager of a publishing company, so I definitely have a horse in this race. What we have done is produce unabridged audiobooks (one over 23 hours long) on MP3 CD. They would take forever to download. But we ALSO price our product aggressively and include a quality replicated (not burned CD), extensive liner notes, and a high quality Amaray case (DVD case) to encourage people to buy the product. Our customers are very happy with the products. Now we just need everybody to buy cars with MP3-CD players!
9 posted on 03/09/2005 1:49:54 PM PST by sittnick (There's no salvation in politics.)
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To: Chunga

I believe he was referring to the thousands of dollars he already spent on his CDs, purchased at retail or through a club.

If he paid to own the CDs he can do whatever he likes with them, royalties paid in spades.


10 posted on 03/09/2005 1:50:46 PM PST by American_Centurion
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To: r5boston

There are so many things wrong with this idea, I don't know where to start.

The current iTunes model is the fairest one yet - it does not penalize anyone who does not wish to buy the product, the artists (or the people they signed their rights over to) get their money, and those who buy the songs get it at a fair price (determined by the free market).

I refuse to subsidize someone whose services I do not want or use. The tax is stupid. Why should I have to pay sales tax for a computer that may *never* be connected to the internet, let alone download music.


11 posted on 03/09/2005 1:52:59 PM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: backhoe
No kidding, the income tax was only 1% when it was first implemented and only the rich payed it.
12 posted on 03/09/2005 1:54:15 PM PST by RockyMtnMan
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To: r5boston

It's an interesting concept, but I would want to see the money go to composers and performers, and especially to have artists who aren't signed by one of the Big Five get their share.


13 posted on 03/09/2005 1:54:43 PM PST by Uncle Fud
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To: r5boston

Paying 99 cents per download of a crappy mp3 file ain't worth it. A nickle is probably way too low, but something in the range of 10-25 cents seems more reasonable to both sides.


14 posted on 03/09/2005 1:55:17 PM PST by Always Right
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To: r5boston

A nickel's not worth a dime is not worth a quarter is not worth a dollar. iTunes and most mp3 sites charge about a buck. Which can be split between artist, their publishing and the label far more than a nickel. I don't think record companies or artists for that matter would be behind that suggestion. Why take less?

I do agree with charging a little fee to Companies and ISP's. The recording industry has been recieving a little something from audio/digital recording companies like Maxell, TDK and Fuji for years to compensate for losses because of duplicating copywritten materials.


15 posted on 03/09/2005 1:56:38 PM PST by Roop
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To: Always Right

iTunes stuff isn't MP3 any more, it's MP4/AAC.


16 posted on 03/09/2005 1:56:54 PM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: r5boston

Um, sure. But I bet the songs I want wouldn't be available. *LOL*


17 posted on 03/09/2005 1:57:38 PM PST by k2blader (It is neither compassionate nor conservative to support the expansion of socialism.)
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To: r5boston

A system like this already exists.

http://www.allofmp3.com

It's a Russian version of iTunes, with all the same music. Instead of paying $0.99 per song, you pay 2 cents per megabyte downloaded - works out to about 6 to 10 cents per song.

Down side is that it's skating past copyright laws.


18 posted on 03/09/2005 1:57:42 PM PST by crv16
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To: Chunga
The music business isn't a charity, and the money people spend for copyrighted music isn't a donation. Some of us have paid for the same copyright over and over again. Let's saythat you are an Elton John collector. You would have bought the original vinyl albums, plus the 45's because the b-sides typically weren't on the albums. Then you paid again for 8-tracks for your car because 8-track recorders weren't common and the blanks were expensive. Then you might have bought cassettes, but you definitely bought the CDs. Some of the compilations you bought for a couple of the songs you didn't have were mostly repeats of what you already had 3 and 4 times.

Well, that someone was me until the late '80's, when he got just too faggy for me to bear any more. Elton John, Bernie Taupin and the rest have been richly compensated many times over, and I no longer play ANY of them. Is there a way I can transfer my "license" to play the copyrighted material to someone who wants to download with having to pay for shipping? Maybe someone can get a warehouse full of old 45's, '78's 8-tracks open reels, pre-recorded cassettes and CDs, and set up an on-line site where people buy the rights (sort of like the way people trade gold?).
19 posted on 03/09/2005 1:58:10 PM PST by sittnick (There's no salvation in politics.)
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To: RockyMtnMan
No kidding, the income tax was only 1% when it was first implemented and only the rich payed it.

Exactly. I used to get basic phone service for about $9 a month. Recently, I looked into returning to that, and when I added up all the ( mostly Clinton era addons ) taxes & fees, it came to about $34 a month.

Once you let that camel in the tent, there's no getting him back out.

And allowing taxes means allowing regulation-- i.e., censorship. Bad idea.

20 posted on 03/09/2005 1:59:17 PM PST by backhoe (-30-)
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