Why Would Google Offer $1B For Music Rights? Because The Return Could Be Much Bigger
from the you-can't-put-a-price-on-freedom dept
It's no secret that Google's music locker service is struggling, but the company still seems committed to making it a success. To do so, they'll need to do big things, and break through the barriers that the record industry places in their path. Music columnist Wayne Rosso reports that an unnamed source told him Google is making bold overtures in that direction, and has offered at least one major record label a $1-billion contract for blanket worldwide rights to their entire catalog (thanks to Colin for sending this in). It's still unconfirmed, but it echos something Glyn wrote last year (which Rosso also refers to) about the possibility of Google or a consortium of internet companies simply buying out the record industry (and noting that Larry Page, Serge Brin and Eric Schmidt could afford to do so with their personal fortunes).
Rosso's source, however, isn't exactly sanguine about the idea:
What, one may ask, is Google thinking? “Who knows,” said the source. “It really doesn’t matter because they would screw it up anyway (referring to the fact that Google’s music service has been less than dazzling). Evidently they have a big content group and they have to have something to do to justify their existence.”
So how have the labels responded? “They’re just shrugging and stringing Google along, trying to keep milking cash out of them”, says the source. “They want the money but on the other hand they hate Google. It really sticks in their craw that Google continues to present links to pirated content at the top of their search results.”
I think that, if true, this says something much different. Google is not trying to "justify" anything—they know that there is tremendous opportunity in the field of online music services if only the labels will loosen the reins a bit. And they are willing to bet billions on that belief. The problem with online music offerings is that the people who design them simply don't think the same way the recording industry does. They want to make cool, useful, engaging services full of both common sense features and innovative ones, deployed on multiple platforms all over the world, fully leveraging the technology that is available—but licensing restrictions interfere with every single step of that process. Design and development are inextricably linked with tedious contract negotiations and the fear of lawsuits. It's extremely difficult to get a good product as a result—and if you do, the labels clamp down to see where they can extract more money from it. If Google is trying to buy blanket licenses with no restrictions at a high price tag, it's because they want to escape that cycle. They want a clear and open playing field on which to build services the way they want to build them, without having to beg the labels for permission at every turn. In a market that has only scratched the surface of the economic possibilities of digital music, such a playing field would be well worth the money.
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Filed Under: licensing, music lockers, wayne rosso
Companies: google
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$1-billion to labels?
Seriously, sounds stupid. It doesn't compensate the actual musicians, many of which are dead. All it does is give record executives and 'producers' more money for making nothing. And later on they'll still sue google for whatever the legal department can find loopholes in.
Google would be walking into a trap. The labels would just keep draining them for more and more money until they die, and then they'll scavenge the corpse for what is left. The same thing they do to musicians.
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Imagine the possibilities. Imagine a truly comprehensive music catalog that is genuinely integrated with all aspects of google. So any time you search something related to music, or someone emails you something about music, or you save a doc about music - you can pull up an instantly streamable version of the track. That's the kind of vision Google has for Google Music, but there are only two ways to accomplish it: fight to create it, inch by inch, by extracting better terms from the stubborn labels over time - or seal a mindblowing deal for a crazy sum of money that just opens the floodgates and lets them do whatever they want. I for one would love to see what would happen if it worked.
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I'd rather listen to Amanda Palmer then a new label drone anyway.
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So why not leave the existing record companies holding the bag? They get stuck with the old, and with all the expenses involved with it, while Google picks up the new -- and is an instant hero to everyone who hates the RIAA et.al.
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Yeah, i said it
But i dont see it happening, actually, i dont see the old labels "letting it", happen, and im pretty sure google sees it the same way
If,
they do try it, and against all odds, suceed somehow, the day the old labels realize they well and trully.... fucked up.......well, that would be a glorious day
Damn, would'nt it be nice if we could get it on film....*cough....for prosperity's sake......ofcourse
*sigh... zzzZZZzzzzzzzzzz
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but if they did that they might be falsely accused of bogus anti-trust violations.
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I don't see why anyone would start a label now. Too much work and too little return. That's not a business Google needs to be in. However, it does make sense for Google to just buy the major labels to get those back catalogs to do what it wants with them.
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But I think starting a company where you have to license music is doomed to fail. And I don't feel sorry for those who do and then complain that the major labels and rights organizations are impossible to deal with. They knew what they were getting into.
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I've assumed that is what people have been speculating about. Why not just buy the labels, own the copyrights, and then do what you want with them (of course, they would only own the master copyrights, not necessarily the songwriter copyrights). Make the music free to the world if that's what Google would like to do. Actually, I'd love to see what would happen. If Google owned all the major label music, would they make it available to competing services? They would if they truly want a copyright-free world.
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If that happens, I wonder where Google will end up on the copyright termination fight.
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http://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=termination+rights
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+1 insightful
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+1 insightful for Ima Fish as well.
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over the last 15 years, I have watched as the file sharing community grew, and grew, and grew, and grew, and grew. where do you think things like grokster, morbius, hotline, kdx sprung from? the inability to distribute flawless copies was resolved 16 years ago.
today we have usenet, bittorrent, file lockers, sftp, vpn, proxies, streaming on-demand media, from a bunch of bored geeks, imagine what could be built if the MAFIAA ceased to exist.
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They should keep them on in jobs more suited to their particular talents, assistants to the janitors, doormen in training, those kinds of things.
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The RIAA would be greatly weakened. And that'd leave the MPAA weakened too because whenever they cry about some new technology that the government has to stop, they always team up with the music industry to drag us back a few decades.
Basically, the whole copyright lobby would have much less influence. And who knows, maybe our Congress could start passing copyright laws that actually make sense in the real world.
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A lot of those rights they would be buying are only going to last another few years, at which point they would engage in constant renegotiation as the next batch of works hits the 35-year-from-assignment mark.
This is assuming they are not deemed works made for hire.
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After all, Google will have the service and the promotional muscle to continue selling those old catalog songs at a higher rate than an individual artist could, and if the artist gets a majority stake in the profits, it would be a good thing for both parties involved.
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Artists want to sell their songs, they want to be paid for the songs that they sell. Google would have a system in place to do that at no added effort on the artists part, with a much better payment plan for the artist, and the artist getting to retain their copywrite and ability to sell it to other distributors too.
It's a win/win for both the Artist and Google.
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Second, labels generally don't own the copyrights in songs (i.e., musical compositions). They own the copyrights in recordings. That alone makes all this very difficult.
An artist who terminates his transfer of copyright to a label may very well wish to assign it or license it to Google.
My point is that there is not really a good possibility for a massive "buyout" of the industry (i.e., along the lines of purchasing rights from all the labels to create a near-comprehensive catalog), because the labels do not own perpetual rights in the songs.
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Besides, the labels will see the $1 billion as a lowball offer anyway.
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Imagine a fully-functional Netflix streaming service with all the options of Google.
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I agree 100%. The old industry is dying - so let them die and take their aged almost-dead cash-cows (their so-called artists - seriously - does anyone want to hear another fucking word from 68 year old Mick liver-lips fucking Jagger and his backing band of old men?) with them. They can all rot in hell together.
New music will continue to flow forth from new talent as it has for millennia. What Google needs to do is tie up the new talent supply so that the old greedy bastards can't sign anything new. Slowly, but surely, the old industry will just shrivel up and die. Problem solved, game set and match.
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Sony is having financial difficulty
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I can fricken imagine Google having a real interest in all of the elements of SOPA once it's their shit being being monetized by others.
The RIAA would be greatly weakened. And that'd leave the MPAA weakened too because whenever they cry about some new technology that the government has to stop, they always team up with the music industry to drag us back a few decades.
If Google moves to a model where their own content is a major source of their revenue the RIAA, MPAA and other successor entities will be strengthened.
Basically, the whole copyright lobby would have much less influence. And who knows, maybe our Congress could start passing copyright laws that actually make sense in the real world.
You are kidding yourself here. Once Google gets addicted to the cash that will be flowing in, they will be indistinguishable from any other company that distributes content for profit. Why people continue to believe the "don't be evil" bullshit is stunning. Google cares about money and power above all. Watch and see what happens. You'll look back longingly for the freedoms you'd have had under SOPA.
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Once Google gets addicted to the cash that will be flowing in, they will be indistinguishable from any other company that distributes content for profit. Why people continue to believe the "don't be evil" bullshit is stunning. Google cares about money and power above all. Watch and see what happens. You'll look back longingly for the freedoms you'd have had under SOPA.
Yes, I'd be curious to see what happens, too. If Google owned most of the world's recorded music, I'm a bit skeptical that it would just release it for free to its competitors and potential competitors. At the very least, I would think it might try to find a way to get a piece of every transaction involving the music. Maybe anyone else hosting the music wouldn't turn up on Google searches, so at the very least you couldn't find the music unless you went through Google. :-)
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Re: Thank you for saying it
Giving lots of money to the people who love to sue you isn't the smartest business model.
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@1 @2 @3 @5 @11 @12 @14&15 @ others
@2 this is what could happen and once its seen to work in music it might spread to tv and movies and even games....
@3 no issue i see artsts rights revert then the artist can go on his own and or pay to advertise his works somewhere....OR use p2p to advertise , failing wishing to do that they can approach google and see if google wishes to buy said rights whats the problem?
@5 read the @3
@11 correct i agree BUY OUT the labels say two major ones leave the other two for faceplant so you dont have anti trust isssues....
@12 also good place to start send out a dual idea for non labelled musicians that google could have a pay per year contract fo rall your music and/or a buy your rights for 10 years ....this way musicians can see how there music is managed and if done badly both sides have an out and the year buy for goggle would not be as bad a try run.
@14@15 that would be what people mean buy buying up or making deals with non labeled musicans....takes a lot of effort and time to reach out.
@others you need to read what was said but i agree a slight shift to outright buy them out means they ahve all those tunes and rights they cna hten say go ahead store your music on our lockers were not suing you....BANG instantly larger and more legit then megaupload....HECK hire dot com to actually help you out and let him run the division BAM
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Buy them ALL!
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