] Embrace file-sharing, or die
]
] A record executive and his son make a formal case for
] freely downloading music. The gist: 50 million Americans
] can't be wrong.

Very good. Quick rant time.

This wraps up a number of points made recently by people such as Tim O'Reily, John Perry Barlow, and Prince into a very nice argument targeted at NARAS.

NARAS is a good target for this argument too, IMHO. The artists will get hip before the record companies. The artists' representation is a good group to start to warming up. The RIAA will not swing untill the finical aspects of embrasing all this new technology have been worked out. The RIAA represents a handfull of CEOs. Their constitution is written in black ink, if you catch my drift.

The industry is used to a hundred years of product scarcity, and it is their busines model's foundation. Thats why the album product cycle exists the way it goes. I think "step one" for them is to realise that this "product cycle" is a thing of the past, and the first player who finds a way to do away with it will be an instant industry leader. When the way artists are marketed starts to fall in line with how prolithic that artist is, and not an album release/recoup schedule, consumers will begin to stop hating the record industry.. I theorize that one of the cheif reasons people hate the industry so much is because they feel they act like a gatekeeper between them and the artist, a gatekeeper that they don't want. They want demos. They want outtakes. They want to be connected to the artist. They don't want the industry filtering for them. They want the industry to provide access to what they want, not to tell them what to think.

New technology has empowered the consumer. The comsumer, in its mob-indirect-not-fully-aware-of-its-own-power kinda way, has realised this. They want a change. The record industry thinks its a subscription service, but its a little more then that. The consumer wants a complete revamp in the way artists are marketed and sold. They care about the work of the artist, and if they like that work. And if they do, they want access to as much of it (the artist) as possible. They want the market to be driven by their tastes, not their tastes to be driven by the market. The consumer is kinda pissed off that their culture is driven by a select few who get to pick what gets big. While that may not be entirely accurate, thats what most think, so thats the idea that wins.

Its going to take them awhile to see the writing on the wall, longer to interpret it, and yet longer to start following its instructions. The consumer will keep the fire under their ass growing, and they will figure it out eventually.

Either that, or they will start die one by one. The new system will arise sooner or later, either way. That is the nature of human evolution, its about ideas and technology now.

Salon.com | Embrace file-sharing, or die