Spanish Politicians Already Planning To Bring Back Rejected Copyright Bill
from the they-never-stop dept
We already noted how a Wikileaks cable exposed the US's significant role in pushing for new copyright laws in Spain that matched what the US entertainment industry was demanding. The news of US involvement apparently helped convince the Spanish legislature to reject that part of a larger bill. Of course, it appears that the supporters of the bill won't take a hint, and they're already talking about bringing the rejected bill back again, "because it is very important." Yes, but important to whom?
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Important....
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Re: Important....
Or they will find a way to hide everyone from this kind of thing?
You know, when people start to loose money they get creative in one way or another.
Just saying.
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Re: Re: Important....
If only the entertainment industry would do this...
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Re: Important....
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2008/12/copyright-cop-wedding-crashers-fined-by-spanish -court.ars
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Chicken or the egg...
There was a golden age of music between 1995-2000 where records sales reached a peak. This was the era of brilliant albums and equally great sales of greater than 1 million for records by Estopa, Alejandro Sanz, La Oreja de Van Gogh, Rosana. Nowadays the most popular record in Spain for the year is lucky to get 200K in sales.
Part of me thinks that its because the quality of music has deteriorated. I can't think of one album that reaches the dizzy heights of those late 90's records in quality. So much Spanish music on the radio now seems to be poor versions of American pop/rock or actual crap American pop/rock (see Keisha, Bieber, etc). In saying that some artists like Bebe and La Bien Querida still shine bright mixing pop/rock with Spanish copla/rhumba sensibilities.
Where I am unsure is if the increased piracy and there is no doubt Spain is a piracy haven on a larger scale than most other developed countries has made record companies less willing to invest and promote risky (in their eyes) talent. I mean, it does seem easier to promote crappy american music which won't require any R&D - it's been paid for. They just have to get it on the radio.
My feeling is good music will always sell, just on a lesser scale than before. Problem is that it's easier to get to people through the resources of big record companies. As they make less then they will invest less in new talent. Of course this does open opportunities.
I know my home country Australia has shown something quite interesting over the last few years. Indie/fold/rock/dance Australian acts have done quite well catering to their markets and promoting themselves via the live circuit and indie/alternative radio and have been selling 100K-300K worth of records (see Angus & Julia Stone, The Presets, Sarah Blasko).
There is hope...
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Re: Chicken or the egg...
On top of that, most of the local bars seem to play exactly the same music over and over again - it seems like the same 20-30 songs if you're listening to Spanish content (unless house, etc. are the main focus). Many of the radio stations play the same songs as well, interspersed with American content. There's also the question of different communities - for example, how much "piracy" comes from British and other ex-pats who don't fancy the local pop but are geoblocked from using their existing Amazon or 7digital accounts to download legally?
So, lack of exposure to new music, expensive and difficult to obtain new content to explore = either no new music being sought out and purchased or piracy. The same can be said of movies and games - a few of my Spanish friends have bought a *lot* more games since I introduced them to some British import sites (prices can be up to 1/4 of the Spanish price, even including shipping), but that hardly does the local Spanish industry any good.
Hopefully, this will improve. Spotify is available here now (of which I'm a member and I'm downloading a few of the artists you mentioned as I write this, Spanish and Aussie!), and moves are in place that suggest that Amazon may be able to offer MP3s here soon. I just hope it's not a matter of too little, too late, or that the industry will get legal measures passed without sorting out their fragmented and underserved market first.
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el zoro
WE DEMOCRACIES WON WW2, NOT THE NAZIS
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Re: el zoro
the commonwealth nations (and empire. it was sort of a mixture during ww2 i belive?) were monarchies.
this amuses me.
of course, the commonwealth also had democratic elements that were a lot more functional than the above mentioned ones.
so, actually, if you look carefully i think you'll find there weren't actually any democracies involved at all, but instead a collection of monarchies and oligarchies, most of whom have found regular popularity contests to be better ways of resolving power struggles than assassination.
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