http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/28/6732624-us-goes-on-offense-against-digital-piracy
Digital Piracy.......... the new scourge. Musicians cannot get paid for their music. Actors are not able to command the salaries once offered. Technicians and key grips can no longer be paid. All of this is true. So why is it that illegal downloads are so popular ? Because people can get something for free ......... you say ? Because the younger generation thinks that everything should be " just given to them " you say ?
I have deep respect for the artist who wants to be paid for their work, I fully understand why an investor would be unwilling to invest in a movie production if they cannot make a profit. The reality is, times have changed. There is no other way to look at it. Anyone in the world can upload a song, a movie, a book, a picture..... etc., name your medium, name your art, whatever it is, it can be digitized and put on the web. What is interesting to me at this juncture is the reaction of Studio's and artist to this reality. More the studio's .... a conglomeration of offices, and decisions that are far to costly in the digital age, gasping with their last breath to hold on to a model that has lasted what 70, 80 years ? The money wasted in court, on lawyers, on influencing legislatures, is money that could be spent on innovation, creation, and digital enhancement, but no. The preferred method is to sustain the old, and forget about the new. I was recently subjected to " Never Say Never " ( if you don't know don't ask..... trust me it is to YOUR benefit ) but there was something interesting about how this artist became known............. YOUTUBE ! Say what you will.... anyone can upload their talent, and it is the great equalizer...........and conversely anyone can watch it...........and that is the future......... American Idol........ minus a middleman or Judges.
In the end I am reminded of what Ludwig Von Mises wrote about and there are two things: The consumer is always........ and I mean ALWAYS in charge of the price of an item.
And it is the consumer who will determine the success or failure of anything in a Market.
These two fundamentals are axiomatic, and cannot be avoided. So my advice to anyone who is an artist of any kind is ......... get on board, or die the slow death that change can bring.
for further reading on this follow these links:
http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/09/technology/bittorrent_lawsuits/?section=money_latest
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/05/karaoke-loving-grandmother-convicted-of-illegal-downloading/239702/
http://mises.org/daily/1364
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