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Originally Posted by docdtv
I think Apple iTunes and NetFlix demonstrate what you say has some validity, at least for now. However, ponder this: In 1999 consumers spent $39 billion on music, mostly CDs.
Today it's a $17.6 billion industry and CDs are clearly on the way out.
And don't you find many responses I got at Would you pay to watch an Alizée video on Youtube? discouraging? |
No, I don't. What I saw was that people were confused, and understandably so. There are a lot of Alizée vids on YouTube already, most of them fan-produced and of amateur quality. When you ask, "would you pay to watch an Alizée video on YouTube?" naturally people think of the kind of videos that are already on YouTube. Would I pay to watch one of those? Hell, no! But how about a longer, professionally-produced video like a mini-concert, high quality, Alizée at her best? Yes. And I think most people would. The thread didn't make that clear.
As for the stats on music, remember that's gross revenues. CDs cost more than downloads and should, since they involve production costs where downloads don't. Are people buying less music today than in the past? They're certainly not listening to less. Book prices are dropping, too, thanks to e-books. Gross price for my novel is $4.95, where in print when that happens it will cost $14.90. But I get almost the same royalty regardless of which version someone buys. Same rule should apply for music, and if it doesn't yet, that's only because the record companies still have a stranglehold, something that I expect them to lose. I think record companies are probably on the way out just like publishing houses.
I published a blog entry yesterday on this very subject, called The Decline and Fall of the Gatekeepers. Might be worth checking out, if you don't mind reading something long.