More Musicians Realize Free Can Be Profitable

Culture

from the understanding-promotional-value dept

Here’s yet another article in a mainstream news source (USA Today) noting that many musicians realize that file sharing has helped them build a fan base who come out to concerts and who feel much more involved with the band. The article includes some quotes from RIAA chief Mitch Bainwol stating the standard line about how the artists can do what they want, but where will that leave the folks at the record labels? Of course, he’s basically taking the position that the recording industry is owed their rightful profit, rather than realizing that business models and markets change – and if his constituents can’t keep up and come up with new business models, they don’t deserve to be in business. The market for horse and buggies dried up when automobiles came about – and no one today would say that we need to artificially prop up the horse and buggy market, like he wants to make sure the recording industry is artificially propped up. If he was really there to help the industry, he’d be telling them that it was time to adjust already and not try to hold back what’s inevitable in the industry. Instead, he tries to claim that the record labels are like VCs – a comparison that has been made many times over the years – but which is wrong. At least VCs have (mostly) learned to adjust to market changes over time. The recording industry execs seem to think that markets never change at all.