Go To China To Hear A Reasonable Take On The Entertainment Industry
from the the-world-is-changing dept
Nearly a year ago, we wrote about how Chinese musicians had learned to adopt to a world where most people got their music for free. And, contrary to the claims of the recording industry, the music industry hadn't died out -- it had thrived. Instead of selling music, they recognized that the music was promotional, and used it to sell many other things, including tickets to concerts, merchandise and endorsement deals. Of course, due to pressure from the US government (acting as a proxy for the entertainment industry), China says it's starting to crack down on unauthorized copying of entertainment content (which may be more for show than for real). Now, John writes in to point us to an article in a Chinese newspaper quoting Hong Kong's Gino Yu, chairman of Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association, talking about how the industry needs to learn to embrace the free copying of entertainment content and look on it as an opportunity to expand their market, rather than freak out that it's a threat. He points out that there are plenty of ways to make money if the industry would embrace them -- from using advertising to selling complementary products. Will the entertainment companies in the US learn that they're screwing up an opportunity and alienating a larger percentage of their best customers? Nope. They'll just keep suing everyone they can.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
your just a little too...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
"we'll have a lot less crappy music assaulting our ears." Definitely!
If the musics worth listening to and the artist can actually PERFORM live, people would pay to see them in concert. (and buy their tshirts, posters, stickers, etc. etc. etc.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
On Topic though, if the music is worth paying for it will be purchased. People still buy movie tickets, DVDs, ringtones, etc...
If the so called pirate/infringer/theives were profitting from the shared/downloaded files, I'd see a problme with it, but it isn't like my company is stealing any profits from your company using your companies product. There ARE NO LOST PROFITS in any of this.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Its advertising
"if the music is worth paying for it will be purchased."
If the musics good enough the artist WILL make $$$, probabably more if music was actually free.
(We even have to pay for radio now, sad, huh?)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ah well, you're not thinking it through completely
You could even call the music itself a loss-leader. Many retail outlets use that draw you into their store. Ever notice how certain big ticket items at Best Buy are priced pretty well, but then the smaller accessories are through the damn roof? Who the fvck pays $39.00 for a gold plated USB cable??! Lotsa folks, apparently!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
Actually, the point of the article is that people are getting paid.
I'm sure you'd sue me or my company if i took your product, 'corporate intelligence' and starting giving it away for free.
We've said this before, but perhaps you missed it. The value of our corporate intelligence isn't in the content produced, but in the next bit of content we produce. It's a service. Our contracts allow our customers to use that content and share and give it away, if they so choose. However, most prefer to keep it to themselves -- for obvious reasons.
Either way, we're getting paid for what we produce tomorrow, not what we produced yesterday. What we produced yesterday, however, enhances the value of what we'll produce tomorrow.
Now consider yourself a musician and place yourself in china...are you happy now. you get to make aproduct everyone will steal; and for all your hard work; you get nothing.
Again, um, the point of the article was that these artists are getting paid -- and in many cases doing much better than in the old system where the record labels take most of the money.
So, just about everything in your comment is flat out wrong.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
Some how the people who record and distribute the music convinced the people who write and perform the music that recording and distributing is more imortant and that the distributors should have control of the music. Ever notice how it is called the Recording Industry Association of America. Not Musicican's Industry Association of America? They are the problem. They are the ones abusing musicians, and they have been abusing musician since long before the Internet.
Now that it is becoming possible for musicians to aviod the record industry the industry is desperately and violently trying to retain as much control as they can, and they don't care who they hurt in the process. Witness the RIAA lawsuits against teenage girls and elderly women. The main people that record and distribute music right now are trying to completely control how all music gets recorded and distributed.
They are trying (unsuccessfully) to prevent new methods of distribution of music because they think they will lose their control over the distribution of music.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
RIAA, hear my message. I have around 500 CDs in my music library but I will NEVER buy another CD as long as you people are loading up music with DRM and suing your customers. Never, never, never. You treat your customers like shit and I'll do it right back to you.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
the irony is that (from what i understand anyway) artists don't make very much (percentage wise) from cd sales, they make much more on merchandise.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: your just a little too...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Go Chinese musicians!
-Remove RIAA
PUT THAT SHITTY AS COMPANY OUT OF BUSINESS
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Download a Tee-shirt Today!!!
It's like the movie theaters. On a slow day, with minimal attendance, a movie theater STILL makes a SOLID PROFIT selling the concessions that everybody buys when going to the theater! Give the music away, and hype the concert and subsequent ancillary products!! The concert and concessions are where a band will 'take home' a higher percentage anyway, as opposed to the sales of CDs...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
1)There is a huge and ridiculously profitable ringtone market in China.
2)Higer percentage of Chinese TV commercials feature celebrities. It's a culture thing I guess.
3)Compared to those big shot American musicians, their Chinese couterparts still make much less. Even a top guy makes less than $2 mil a year.
All these been said, those not so famous musicians definitely should try this model. Look how popular Lazy Sunday is. Once you are famous, you can always make money one way or another.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Doesn't the last A in RIAA stand for America?
*no pigdogs were harmed in this post.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yes, but...
And all that complaining about the shitty music being produced novadays? Well, many of the real artists who respect their own work and know its true value stopped releasing CDs. A lot became mercenaries and work on "works for hire" like soundtracks and music theater/performance art. Many true talents get into paying gigs like music for games and multimedia before even releasing a single CD.
"You get what you pay for" is true in any day and age. If you got the music for free (and it wasn't stolen) it's likely just muzak-like filler or a product of some "wanna be" with great dreams giving it away like a slutty teenage girl looking for attention.
I wish there was a new CD from Peter Gabriel every couple of years, but it will not be. There's just not enough money to be made selling CDs these days. A true masterpiece production takes a year or two to write, arrange and record/produce.
Name one artist today who is giving his music away and who's productions are on par (artistically and creatively) with those classics of Floyd, Zeppelin, Yes, Gabriel, but also Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, Dire Straits, McCartney or Springsteen.
Every one who dedicates a big portion of his/her life to making a product expects rewards.
Screw microwave or foot apparel makers.
As an artist I want to concentrate on making music masterpieces and not be a corporate whore with a greedy agent.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yes, but...
HAHAHAHA Fag
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]