One of the reasons that I write so much stuff about the music industry is, I think that the future of the music industry is going to be an indicator of the future of all creative mediums. I believe that art and the creative process are essential components to society. I’m starting to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Let me point something out here; I have spent a good deal of time working on copyrights. Filing, attaining, licensing, selling, and even doing copyright research including some at the Library of Congress. I have done this work for others and, I am a copyright author and claimant as well. A lot of my perception of the music business involves the idea of copyrights.
One of the people I try to keep up with is Gerd Leonhard. I consider him to be a music business visionary. So, this morning, when I noticed that he had a post on his website, MediaFuturist.com entitled, “The Future of Copyright: Copyright 2.0″, I thought I’d better take a look. This was with some reservations because, I know that when a visionary speaks, you don’t always hear what you want to hear. That being said, I urge you to go to the site and watch Gerd’s video on the subject of copyrights.
One thing I’ve heard Mr. Leonhard talk about before is, that the situation we are facing is not technological, it is cultural.
File sharing exists because people are using the technology but, they are using it to gain access. You aren’t going to beat it by attacking or attempting to change the technology because, the root of the activity is a cultural practice.
The following quotes are from the video.
Is the value of music the right to make copies?
Traditionally, the value of music has been exactly that. That’s what a copyright is; the right to make copies, and authority over how the copies are distributed.
Many people are using music and whether or not they make copies is not relevant to them.
The consumer has access to the music. The copy exists in the system and the consumer can download, delete, stream, share at will. The actual copy is irrelevant.
The right for access actually trumps the right of copyright.
I think that is the key point. That is the reality.
Here’s the thing, music is more a part of people’s lives now, than any time in history. Music is more prevalent in a persons daily routine now, than it was when Michael Jackson was selling 30 Million albums. Music is portable. The listener is not relegated to sitting in the living room and listening to the stereo or, riding in the car waiting for a song they like to come on the radio. The listener has access to the songs they like at any time.
The consumer is demanding that access loud and clear. That is cultural.
How will the people that create the music be compensated?
Once again, you have to accept the fact that access is far more important than owning a copy of the music. That’s why, even as the sales of downloads increases, so does the amount of peer to peer file sharing.
The answer is to have legal sharing. The answer is “flat rate bundle access”. Give the consumer total access and charge them a flat rate.
The common wisdom is that the music industry missed the boat on file sharing. Not so, says Mr. Leonhard.
Sharing is only at the beginning…
Wait until 20-25% of the worlds population are on broadband…
91% of users keep the mobile phone within a 1 meter reach…
Digital music flat rate is inevitable.
Inevitable but, how far off? Well, the first “futurist” I ever met told me this; “Things change, and as they do they will change at a faster rate.”
Another guy I pay attention to is Bruce Houghton. This morning, at Hypebot, Bruce had this…
The UK may have legal music via P2P licensed at the broadband ISP level by the end of the year, according to the Register. The British government apparently pushed for talks between ISP’s and the music industry as a preferred solution to legislation. South Korea is close to a similar solution…
COMMENTARY: It could take much longer for a broad experiment…
to be hammered out - perhaps until the end of 2009 - but licensed P2P is coming and the UK will lead the way. Watch for similar moves along with a so called “iPod tax” on devices that copy and share music to come to the US in the next 2-3 years as well.
And think about how legal P2P would force a shift in many business models. Music 3.0 is right around the corner.
Gerd and Bruce are a couple of guys to keep an eye on folks and, not just if you are a musician.
All creative content (intellectual property) will follow music’s lead. Beyond that, all of this is relevant to the evolution of the creative process.
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Tags: Bruce Houghton, business, copyright, creative process, file sharing, Gerd Leonhard, music industry
Kenski wrote,
I’ve long believed that as long as communication technology can keep up, the future of all things computer-ey is likely to be in remote storage. How do you miniaturise your 2 gazillion terrabite hard disk? You don’t. You have a centralised, backed up, secure (!?) data storage service and you miniaturise the technology required to access that storage. You need never worry about how much space you have on your camera, whether you’ll lose data, blah-blah-blah. You can also choose to ‘rent’ access to not only movies but music, too, possible at a flat rate as suggested or on a pay-per-play plan, capped at the ‘cost’ of each individual song or album.
What you have to break is the human desire to ‘own’ something tangible. Used to be a record in a sleeve, then a CD in a jewel box. Already we’re seeing a departure from that, but it’s a reluctant one with us ‘older’ generation as we instinctively don’t trust technology… we’ve lived through and paid for the glitches!
As far as I’m concerned, the paradigm to break is the one relating to advertising and promotion, not supply.
Kenski’s last blog post..Shiny Objects Of Desire, Part Deux
Link | June 27th, 2008 at 8:49 am