Forum - View topicUSAToday article concerning music piracy
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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This is written in perspective to music piracy and isn't directly relevant to anime, but it raises some interesting questions about the future direction of the industry, and asks what I think is a hugely relevant question that I think goes largely ignored:
Chinese rock stars aren't getting as wealthy as, say, Michael Jackson, but Quek raises an interesting question: Why should they? Only a relatively few American rockers ever sell enough CDs to get fabulously rich. Should society care if rockers can't afford to build their own backyard amusement parks? Again, because of the difference in say a concert vs a tv show, it's not DIRECTLY relevant, but I do think the main points merit consideration. I think a popular anime can easily drive merchandise or related property sales. |
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jmays
ANN Past Staff
 Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Very interesting article--makes you wonder if pirates are the record labels of the future.
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SnowfairyX
 Posts: 438 |
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I'm not really sure what you're trying to say, but are you in favor of pirating? Pirating is absolutely unacceptable and people making profit over other people's hard work makes me sick! I'm in favor of stricter penalties for pirates in the U.S. and China probably endorses piracy anyway. Pirates are nothing but blood-sucking leeches and thieves. |
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jmays
ANN Past Staff
Posts: 1390 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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The article isn't about right or wrong; it's about the reality that piracy has become part of the business plan for Chinese musicians, and it wonders if the same model would be good for American artists. When you consider that few artists profit from CD sales, it makes sense for them to forget about controlling piracy and instead use pirates to help sell concert tickets. |
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darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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Lets not forget that china also bootleg a lot of hollywood films and U.S. music as well as bootlegging anime from japan.
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Godaistudios
Posts: 2075 Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment) |
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The problem is that there is a definete difference in performance values when comparing music to movies. Once you've seen a movie.... that's basically it. It's the same movie every time. There really isn't much room for flexibility. With music, and going to see live performances, there is much more that can be done with that. Songs can be changed a little, the order they are played in, the lighting for the stage - props, etc all can be done around. There is a reason why people look forward to seeing live performances of their favorite bands. It's much more than hearing their favorite song sung by their favorite artist. It's about the performance - something that can be just a little different each time - yet still enjoyable every time. 
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Kazuki-san
 Posts: 2251 Location: Houston, TX |
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In fact, it's usually anything but. Truth be told, most artists these days (can be further qualified with "signed") don't sound that great live, and usually, without the aide of the various filters and other computer enhancements, sound worse then I do. The only concert I've been to recently where the singer actually sounded the same as the studio recordings was Maroon 5. |
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Godaistudios
Posts: 2075 Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment) |
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I considered this when making my post - and then I thought about it further... (and am now expounding on my thoughts here.) It's not just a song, it's a show; an experience if you will. These live concerts still sell out - regardless of how good the band/performer is. It's not necessarily about how good/talented the performer is - but about how good the production of the show is as a whole. If it was just about song... they probably wouldn't do so well. I enjoyed my last live concert when I went to see U2 a couple of weeks ago. It sounded decent - but it was much better for some friends of mine who where on the floor. In my case, I was sitting pretty high up in the Pepsi Center where the acoustics were... less than helpful in assisting me to hear the concert.
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Joe Arizona
 Posts: 144 Location: Phoenix |
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From what I understand from the article, it may not be the pirates, but the artists themselves that may circumvent the music labels. Our laws would allow this, but not what is currently being practiced in China. It is interesting indeed, that the habits of Chinese consumers are giving us a prompt to discuss how a domestic industry conducts business. A testament to China's growing economic clout, and it's potential to be a trendsetter, not just a source of cheap labor. Marx has got to be rolling in his grave. |
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msi435
 Posts: 465 Location: Behind you! |
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I think if the image of the multi-million dollar rock star goes away then music will be better off. Honestly, music today sucks for one reason, it's all for money. If the "pirates" win, maybe it's better off for music; it will attract artists with some substance.
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SnowfairyX
Posts: 438 |
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What's going to happen when pirates "win"? Do you really think that it will benefit the music industry? You might think that many of the "multi-million dollar" artists don't need or deserve that money, but I believe in capitalism and that people have a right to earn as much money as they want. People have no right to steal other peoples' ideas or property and make a profit off them. If the pirates actually benefit the music industry, and the artists don't mind having someone making a profit off of their work, then the pirates are no longer pirates. I agree that a lot of music nowadays isn't really to my preference, but millions of people seem to like that particular kind of music. I might think that particular kind of music sucks, but then why are millions of people buying the cds? Because they like it. It also doesn't make sense to me that artists would hope to make a lot of money by making crappy music. They want to make as much money as possible by making music that appeals to the most amount of people. |
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Godaistudios
Posts: 2075 Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment) |
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Actually, that's the problem. It's about creating an image... a style - not substance. It's about appealing to the lowest common denominator. McDonald's isn't popular and making billions of dollars because the substance of the food is exquisite. I suspect that the majority of the fast food generation likes most of what they consume (music included) to be just that - quick and cheap. |
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SuperOnizuka
 Posts: 421 Location: When I look At the World- New Jersey |
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Not to get off topic or overtly political here, but at what cost do people have the "right" to make as much money as they want? Throw away people's jobs just to increase profit sure isn't ethical. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4515101.stm Destroy someone's livelihood to increase a nation's profits, etc. These are two of many examples. But this forum, nor thread is about politics, so if you want to discuss more just PM me or something. As for the piracy. That is an interesting article. I don't really buy a lot of music as a whole, I listen to my cds over and over, because those albums are of bands that I enjoy a lot.
That is true, but also depends on your perspective. Are you going to a concert with expectations that the band sounds like the studio version or are you there for the experience? Anthony Kiedis, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is a getting better at singing, but he is NOT the best singer, I will acknowledge that. But he does sound great live, even if the sound is not like the albums at all. But then again, the experience of watching them live totally blows the audience, myself included away. In fact every show is always different even if the set list is the same.[/url] |
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.Sy
Posts: 1266 |
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One thing for certain, the government should be cracking down on pirated material. Ebay is probabaly the online bootleg capital, and I'm not even sure if China even has official releases. People I know have seen bootlegs in official bookstores there. Although there are many U.S. artists who make more money than their skill deserves, that's still not a reason to side with pirates. One other thing I noticed when searching for sountracks online, is that bootlegs that are being sold online (10USD per CD) are priced rather high for a boot. I haven't been able to grasp why someone would pay so much for a CD that doesn't credit the artist.
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tfcreate
 Posts: 9 Location: Chicago, Ill... (America's biggest fly-over) |
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Personally, after hearing about lawsuits against 8 year old kids, old people who don't even have computers, and dead people wou couldn't download if they wanted to, I've decided to NEVER buy or even listen to RIAA affiliated artists, producers or studios. Their actions are draconian and frankly stupid.
Because of sheer greed, they're pricing their target audience out of the market. They also claim that piracy is hurting their industry.... perhaps, but not nearly as bad as the bad press that they are generating by these actions. And they miss the point that they have all but confessed to price-fixing CDs. This makes them criminals in my eyes, and the last thing I want to do is support criminal activity. Most of the good artists are setting up home and independant studios and selling their products on-line and out of the grip of the major studios. Rather than changing to compete, they sue and bully their way through the markets. To me, they're not worth the pain they inflict on the buyers. TFC |
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