Termyn8or
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Joined: 11/12/2005
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I know of a band that was marketing it's own CDs, Tshirts and everything. CDs burned and printed at home, the Tshirts actually airbrushed on the leader's back porch. They never even thought about approaching a record company (funny it's still called that even thought they do not make records anymore). They did do some college radio shows though. Unfortuna5tely ill fate struck them in spades. One guitarist got busted, he wasn't doing anything but he had like 43 guns in his car. One singer left because he and the drummer didn't get along and then last month the drummer died.
How does this relate to this point ? It does, this is not a hijack. The problem is that people don't take music in a personal way. In the history of music it has never gotten as impersonal as it is today. In the beginning people liked to make noise, and eventually found ways to make that noise pleasing. It was a personal thing, performed in a cave or some tribal gathering of some sort.
Music is an addiction for some, and as anyone hip to psychology can tellya, an addict is not getting what they need. So this whole industry sprung up to give the people their "fix".
This industry is setup like any other - to maximize profits. Back to the days of LPs, those cutting and stamping machines were well amortized and it got to the point where it only cost pennies per album to produce, and they all cost the same unless it was a special edition high quality or half speed master or something like that. Yet one is $8.99 and another is $21.99. Why ? Because in a for profit industry, supply and demand dictate prices, not reasonable profit margins. It is almost inversed in a way. They would make more money selling an album that is in high demand at the same price, but that is not good enough for them.
They pander to the addiction, and sometimes offer enticements. Just how much do you think it cost to print the posters they included with the Beatles White Album ? I bet it wasn't even a dollar per set.
So now they are on to intellectual property. I have said it before so I will not dwell on it, but up in my attic is a hell of alot of media, I don't use it anymore but having it proves that I own the rights to that intellectual property.
And worth a quick mention, if you use P2P to download you MUST make a new directory and get most of the material out of the shared directory. We all know a P2P doesn't work if people do not share, so you have to share some, but to fit the situation the best I figured this out. When you DL something and it comes in seconds from alot of sources, get it out of the shared folder. It's not needed. But do share those that took longer, the three minute song that took a month to get even though you have broadband. That is because very few people have it. So much for that for now.
So you sell say a million copies at $17.99, minus the store's cut, what about $12 ? Then the distributors who specialize in handling albums gets their cut, so now we might be at $9. Don't forget the whole dollar an album for the band so we are down to $8. Now you have machinery that cost alot fifteen years ago, it has already paid for itself and now you are making money. Do prices go down ? No, it's because the rules of the game are to profiteer whenever possible, and very few people will complain because it really is not a necessity. It is entertainment.
But then the OP mentioned the MPAA, not the RIAA. But the same thing applies. A movie does cost alot to make, but the huge profits are derived because of the addiction to entertainment. If everybody said "I ain't payin no more than two dollars to see a movie" things would change in a hurry, but people can't do that. Why ? The addiction.
This piracy is akin to an addict stealing drugs rather than paying his drug dealer. I try not to let it do me like that, but I DL anyway.
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Don't...Don't...Don't believe the hype! - 
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