Tag Archive for 'Download'

RIAA Chief Wants to Put Filters On Every PC and Network

Published on February 18, 2008 in Blog. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Spotted On: ArsTechnica

The RIAA’s head, Cary Sherman, wants to put encryption on our computer that will force us to decrypt music before listening to it. In other words, the filter will scan all your incoming data and then either allow or deny your ability to listen to it. since this idea likely won’t be popular (who’s going to willingly put a filter on their computer that blocks the files they are downloading?), the next suggestion is to put the filters in our modems.

Despite the predictable public backlash against these tactics (in an environment where the RIAA already has public approval that rivals the US Congress), some ISPs are moving ahead with these filters. The technical specifics are a bit thick, suffice it to say that various file encryptions can bypass these filters unless entire protocols are blocked.

Here’s a video of Mr. Sherman lauding the glories of filtering:

Bottom Line: Being out of touch with your consumers’ needs does not improve your financial picture, or your credibility.

Record Label Uploads Whole Catalog to Pirate Bay

Published on February 15, 2008 in Blog. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Spotted on: Torrent Freak

Here’s something novel:

Dependent Records recently uploaded their entire catalog on Pirate Bay (Dependent specializes in aggrotech, electro-industrial and futurepop). Well, sort of. Apparently a group pretending to be Dependent posted the albums on the p2p site.

The quote from label head Stefan Herwig – well, an impersonator – is “I closed down my record label Dependent Records for good. But since I want my music to be heard by the people out there, everything I have ever published is now available on The Pirate Bay.”

While artists are turning to file sharing networks for promotion, it;s unusual to see a label do this (although there are some net labels giving away music, such as Kikapu and Lacedmilk).

Herwig (or his imposter) feels that p2p technologies are killing labels, not boosting sales. However, this article claims file sharing is a boon for new music. Perhaps availability adds to desirability.

Do you think file sharing is boosting or dropping album sales?

Kids Today, “Greatest Generation Gap Since Rock N’ Roll”

Published on February 1, 2008 in Blog. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Reprinted with Permission: Digital Music News – Paul Resnikoff

By the late 90s, investors, entrepreneurs, and even music industry executives sensed a profound shift ahead. The early days of the internet witnessed a massive stock bubble, and the creation of instant millionaires, billionaires, and outrageous valuations.

Of course, that bubble popped, though society, communications, entertainment, and relationships have all experienced incredible shifts over the past ten years. And those born into a world saturated with the internet, mobile phones, and iPods represent an entirely different demographic. Plenty of older people are tech-savvy and facile on the internet, but teenagers are digital natives, and the vanguard of a completely different consumer class.

That was the focus of a recent Frontline special called “Growing Up Online,” which aired on PBS last week. “It’s been said that the internet represents the greatest generation gap since the advent of rock n’ roll,” the program asserts, hardly an overstatement for anyone connected to teenagers today.

“Growing Up” focused heavily on social networking, IM, mobile devices, and online video, all cornerstones of a “virtual society … largely hidden from parents and teachers”. Well-known names like MySpace and Facebook dominated the discussion, while older players like Yahoo, AOL, and MSN received scant attention.

According to Frontline, approximately 90 percent of teenagers in the United States are online, a figure that continues to grow. “This is the first generation to come of age immersed in a virtual world, outside the reach of their parents,” the program asserted.

For the music industry, that “society” is roiling once-solid physical and album-based models. Frontline did not focus on music-related topics, though the implications of an always-on, ultra-savvy class of internet consumers are already being felt. “It’s hard not to wonder whether a generation that uses the internet to ‘learn’ about the world for ‘free’ … will be willing to pay for content online (whether that be music, television, movies, etc…),” blogged Richard Greenfield of Pali Research.

Kicking and screaming, traditional media conglomerates have been forced to adapt to that reality, with mixed success. Of course, teenagers are only one part of a massive digital disruption, though “Growing Up Online” offers a lucid look into a quickly-changing consumer class.

Review by Paul Resnikoff.

“Growing Up Online” is available online here.

RIAA Pushes Bill to Expand Criminal Penalties for Copyright Infringement

Published on January 31, 2008 in Blog. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Spotted on ArsTechnica

The RIAA wants to expand copyright law, with the apparent intention of having more technicalities to prosecute.? The new law on the table is for album compilations.? Specifically, having each track count as separate count of infringement.

Goggle’s top copyright lawyer was quoted saying the parties pushing this bill have an “unslakable lust for more and more rights, longer terms of protection, draconian criminal provisions, and civil damages that bear no resemblance to the damages suffered”.

Bottom Line: Fining someone upward of $9,000 for a track with a value of a dollar may not be fair, but lawmakers still seem to align themselves with this kind of enforcement.

Sales Figures Do Not Tell the Future

Published on January 14, 2008 in Article and Blog. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Spotted on: CNET
Trent Reznor released sales numbers for the new Saul Williams release on his blog. The album “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust” was produced and released by the Nine Inch Nails mastermind with a forward thinking model: Download the album for free, or pay $5 for a higher quality MP3 version (a la Radiohead). According to the numbers released, approximately 18% of the downloads were sales.

This number is likely slightly lower than reality. There is no information to measure how many people downloaded the album for free then went back and bought it. CNET interviewed both Trent Reznor and Saul Williams, and their opinions are quite different.

The album has been out for two months, and the major campaign of videos and touring begins in the next few weeks. The album sold almost 30,000 downloads and gave away another 120,000 with almost no marketing campaign, and no publicist. Although the album hasn’t gone digitally platinum, this experiment is a positive sign. Williams’ music does not neatly fit into a pigeonhole. While the sales model is similar to Radiohead’s In Rainbows (which is no longer available as a free download), these two artists are not in the same position, and the IRLNT test will be a gauge of what mid level artist can expect from this model, at least for this year.
Having 20% of your listeners buy your album may not seem like a large amount, but it’s hard to measure who they are, how they know Saul Williams, and whether they were pre-existing fans or not. Consider that an album’s life span is long – upwards of two years, and over the next eight to ten months we will see how this model works when promotions are put into play.
Bottom Line: Whether or not this model of selling albums works is still unclear. As time passes, and more artists try this model, we will see whether audiences will pay for something they can get for free.

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