Comments on: Hollywood vs. Napster, post mortem http://www.wordyard.com/2007/06/28/hollywood-vs-napster-post-mortem/ Technology, politics, culture Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:51:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Bill Dearing http://www.wordyard.com/2007/06/28/hollywood-vs-napster-post-mortem/#comment-803 Bill Dearing Sun, 01 Jul 2007 14:53:08 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1329#comment-803 Couldn't happen to a nicer group of guys, idiots who believe that suing your own best customers is a solid way to ensure their loyalty. Every time they try something new, I just shake my head in disbelief. I'm quite fond of Pandora. It allows me to find new music I would otherwise miss (given that commercial radio is such an astonishing waste). Pandora says it's now in the the fight of its life as the recording industry wants to increase the price it pays for each song so high it will put Pandora and other Internet radio sites out of business. Once gone, that'll be another avenue they will have shut down, making it harder for me to buy their product. I love music, but hate the industry. I look forward to when I can have the former without the latter. Couldn’t happen to a nicer group of guys, idiots who believe that suing your own best customers is a solid way to ensure their loyalty. Every time they try something new, I just shake my head in disbelief. I’m quite fond of Pandora. It allows me to find new music I would otherwise miss (given that commercial radio is such an astonishing waste). Pandora says it’s now in the the fight of its life as the recording industry wants to increase the price it pays for each song so high it will put Pandora and other Internet radio sites out of business. Once gone, that’ll be another avenue they will have shut down, making it harder for me to buy their product. I love music, but hate the industry. I look forward to when I can have the former without the latter.

]]> By: Frederic Guarino http://www.wordyard.com/2007/06/28/hollywood-vs-napster-post-mortem/#comment-805 Frederic Guarino Sat, 30 Jun 2007 21:45:27 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1329#comment-805 I agree with Carlos that lawsuits were instrumental in getting the record labels to become evildoers in the public's mind. A couple of simple, effective steps could/should have been taken by the labels to "harness" P2P. First, emulate the French model and levy a tax on the ISPs, paid for by the users on their monthly Verizon, Comcast or AT&T bill, and redistribute the collected funds to the artists according to their downloads, akin to the radio model. Second, develop subscription models where users "rent" and "rent to own" music via $9.99/month plans for all current and back-catalog music. Let's hope for the movie studios that they've seen the light and will embrace what users want, ie simplicity and not try to fight P2P and ultimately lose just as music plainly has. I agree with Carlos that lawsuits were instrumental in getting the record labels to become evildoers in the public’s mind. A couple of simple, effective steps could/should have been taken by the labels to “harness” P2P. First, emulate the French model and levy a tax on the ISPs, paid for by the users on their monthly Verizon, Comcast or AT&T bill, and redistribute the collected funds to the artists according to their downloads, akin to the radio model. Second, develop subscription models where users “rent” and “rent to own” music via $9.99/month plans for all current and back-catalog music. Let’s hope for the movie studios that they’ve seen the light and will embrace what users want, ie simplicity and not try to fight P2P and ultimately lose just as music plainly has.

]]> By: Carlos http://www.wordyard.com/2007/06/28/hollywood-vs-napster-post-mortem/#comment-804 Carlos Fri, 29 Jun 2007 19:23:46 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1329#comment-804 I had to guffaw when I read the RIAA rep claim that the lawsuits weren't "punitive". Oh please. Like many others, I believe the point where the industry nuked itself was the RIAA lawsuits. At that point, instead of being another party to the transaction of acquiring music, they turned themselves into an opponent of consumers. At that moment, file sharing became not only a way to get music, but a way to stick it to The Man. I had to guffaw when I read the RIAA rep claim that the lawsuits weren’t “punitive”. Oh please.

Like many others, I believe the point where the industry nuked itself was the RIAA lawsuits. At that point, instead of being another party to the transaction of acquiring music, they turned themselves into an opponent of consumers. At that moment, file sharing became not only a way to get music, but a way to stick it to The Man.

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