Study Says: Lack Of Innovation, Not File Sharing, Real Problem For Record Labels
from the maybe-you-shouldn't-kick-your-biggest-customers-off-the-Internet dept
Nastybutler77 was the first of several to direct our attention to a new Dutch study (pdf, via Ars Technica) by Professor Nico van Eijk of the University of Amsterdam. van Eijk finds, once again, that file sharers aren't just consuming copyrighted material voraciously, they're consuming all media voraciously (especially concerts, films and games). The study also concludes that there "isn't a clear relationship" between the decline in sales and file sharing, while also finding that (shockingly) fear of evolution prevented the recording industry from adequately adapting their business models to the broadband age. While the recording industry is having problems, argues van Eijk, it has less to do with file sharing, and more to do with the fact they've been "abstaining from innovation" -- as the study phrases it:
"Turnover in the recorded music industry is in decline, but only part of this decline can be attributed to file sharing. Conversely, only a small fraction of the content exchanged through file sharing networks comes at the expense of industry turnover. This renders the overall welfare effects of file sharing robustly positive."van Eijk, who does a nice job differentiating between the recording and music industries, goes on to note that despite Sweden's reputation as a piracy hub, total revenues from recorded music, live concerts and collecting societies remained roughly static between 2000 and 2008 (something we've pointed out before). The study also touches on how the content industry has set the price far higher on movies and video games than people say they are willing to pay (though what people say they'll pay and what they'll actually pay obviously can be quite different). While the recording industry was busily suing customers, exploring nastier DRM solutions and trying to desperately hold on to the past -- everything changed around them -- and "reinvention of the business model" is now the only way forward, concludes van Eijk:
"And so the entertainment industry will have to work actively towards innovation on all fronts. New models worth developing, for example, are those that seek to achieve commercial diversification or that match supply and end-user needs more closely. In such a context, criminalizing large parts of the population makes no sense. Enforcement should focus on large scale and/or commercial upload activities. . . Introducing new protective measures does not seem the right way to go..."None of this will surprise Techdirt readers, given that we've made many of these points before, and study after study indicate that file sharers are some of the content industry's biggest potential customers. So, once again, we're facing a future where entertainment companies can either embrace these users and find ways to get them cheap, simple, high-quality product -- or they can demonize them, alienate them, and fight to terminate their connections to the Internet (and by proxy any purchases they might make). Place your bets.
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Filed Under: file sharing, music industry. recording industry
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I bet on black!
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Re:
What they will get is a spot light shined on file sharing and an evolution in encryption, software, and sharing methods. The need and want to control the internet will cause it go the other way and it will become less controlled. The more money and laws they throw at it the faster the internet will adapt.
Here is the real kicker. The more money they throw at controlling the internet, the faster another business plan, or system will evolve to replace them.
I will give you an example. If you remove safe harbors and add secondary liability, it could potentially shut down YouTube. One possible outcome or reaction would be the creation of an open free database or organization to catalog non copyrighted and Creative commons works. Then only allow those works on YouTube and other sites to remove the possibility of being shut down. This of course would result in people wanting to add their stuff to this fair use database. Cutting out the record labels unless they want to acknowledge fair use and actually allow it.
The internet isnt static, people adapt, people find work arounds, some of us think so far outside the box that the box is a little point off in the distance. Everything they have done up to this point has backfired seriously. ACTA will backfire also. They are setting up inherently oppresive rules that will lead to multiple backlashes and serious unintended consequences for them.
Dont worry about them gaining control, because control really is an illusion, and the internet adapts.
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Given a choice between doing the smart thing and doing the stupid thing...
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Ahhh Yes
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I really like the statistics on ...
Year Country FileType %ofUsers
2007 US Vid 27
2007 US mp3 37
2008 UK mp3 63
2008 Dutch mp3 98
2008 Dutch vid 94
2009 US mp3 58
2009 FR mp3 28
2010 FR mp3 38
80% of people say the price of a CD should be 6 euros or less. They would pay the same price for a DVD.
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Another study for the MAFIAA to ignore
I've been following this subject on TechDirt and elsewhere for many years now, and the story just doesn't seem to change in the least. There is never a shortage of evidence that file sharing can/is helping the industry, and yet at the same time there is never a shortage of alarmists (industry shills) spouting off that the industry is dying and that all they need is another law, better DRM, etc.
Do I think that pirating content is OK? Not exactly. I believe you're on shaky moral ground, but that's up for debate. But do I think it's criminal activity, like what's described at the start of every DVD I own? The answer is no. If I were to search the file shares of the users at my company at any given time, I would find hundreds, if not thousands, of MP3s that have been shared and recopied dozens of times. I don't believe that any of these people are criminals just because they share their music with each other. I never considered it criminal to make a cassette to give to a friend or girlfriend either. I bet a lot of folks can remember going out and purchasing an album because of a song on a mix tape they got as a gift.
The main point that the entertainment industry is missing is that by treating everybody as a potential criminal, they're actually hurting the very people who keep them in business.
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Re: Another study for the MAFIAA to ignore
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Re: Re: Another study for the MAFIAA to ignore
Say it all you want, but infringement is not theft.
Your statement that "soon enough there is nothing left to steal" is also epic failure, as there is more content, both free and paid, available now than ever before.
Congrats on being a complete a$$hat!
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Re: Re: Another study for the MAFIAA to ignore
Are you sure about that? The top fans get exposed to much more content because of file sharing, without it they may not be as likely to buy new content.
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Re: Re: Another study for the MAFIAA to ignore
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Re: Re: Another study for the MAFIAA to ignore
As someone already pointed out, it's not stealing.
and as for your doomsday scenario, plenty of people release music and other content under a creative commons license, a license exactly designed to circumvent current copyright laws at least to some extent. To say that no one would create art without copyright is an obvious lie and you know it. Nice job TAM, keep up the dishonesty and see how many people continue to take you seriously.
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It's the Music Stupid
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For years I was pissed off at them before the NET.I am a musician and have screwed around in rock bands since I was 16 in 1972.Record labels was something you thought of as a musician and had your dreams.Well I knew folks who did get "signed" and in the end they were not to happy about the experience.On the other hand I put out my own stuff and got to work the way I wanted to not some suit telling me how to dress and act and play so we can make a ton of money off you.
The Labels are the real Pirates not us.I get even more mad nowadays as I hear about things RIAA/Labels say or things they try to do.They exist off our money so I say just boycott the labels and any artist who would sign with them should also be boycotted.you want to send a message to them that they surely will undersatnd then do a real boycott.
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When a DVD movie is less expensive than the CD, Something's Wrong!
I can still get used CDs for a reasonable price, and I can always support local artists who don't have porcine distributors inserting themselves noisily between my wallet and their feeding trough. I would be quite happy to support a business model where I pay the artist's royalty directly. Goodness knows the distributor never bothers to. What artists get percentage wise for downloads as compared to CD sales is shameful and that's not even addressing the fact that the legitimate download is usually recorded at a much lower rate than the average fan mp3 / ogg / ect.
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