Yarr! I be a pirate...

[glatt]

When I was in college, years ago, I would make cassette tapes of albums and CDs that others owned. These were albums I never would have paid for in the first place, because I didn't know the music that well. If it ended up being an album I liked alot, I would buy more CDs from that artist. If it was a band I ended up not liking so much, I wouldn't.

Those bootleg tapes became the seeds that grew into probably 50-100 legitimate CDs purchases that never would have happened otherwise. I was stealing, but I was also consuming, and the money went where it should have, because the good artists eventually got my money, and the bad ones didn't.

Today, I don't think that model applies any longer.

People like Articrono are going to be the death of the entertainment industry as we know it. If nobody pays for this stuff, the budgets to produce it will get smaller and smaller. Blockbuster movies will be a thing of the past, and Blair Witch Project style movies will rule the scene. Similarly, big rock bands will be no more, and a large number of small independent bands will rule the industry. As consumers, we'll have a lot more choice because technology improvements are lowering the barriers to entry, but it will be much less polished. And the artists will not be living large.

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by glatt

People like Articrono are going to be the death of the entertainment industry as we know it. If nobody pays for this stuff, the budgets to produce it will get smaller and smaller. Blockbuster movies will be a thing of the past, and Blair Witch Project style movies will rule the scene. Similarly, big rock bands will be no more, and a large number of small independent bands will rule the industry. As consumers, we'll have a lot more choice because technology improvements are lowering the barriers to entry, but it will be much less polished. And the artists will not be living large.

you say that like it's a bad thing. but in regards to big bands, i think the Grateful dead give your statement the lie. they encouraged pirating, even set up sections for tapers in their audience. they were about as big as it gets for 25+ years. rockers dont get into it for just the money. they're stupid to try to restrict their intelectual property in any way regardless. the money they lose in album sales is made up in increased fame and merch sales and concert tickets that exist because people are able to access their art and enjoy it. not like they make all that much from album sales in the first place. but i guess it's not entirely up to them, is it?

[glatt]

I'm no fan of the greedy studios, but it's a simple case of economics. If consumers won't buy a product, the studios won't make it. Part of my problem talking about this is that I'm in my late 30's and don't listen to or buy music as much anymore, so I don't know how much people buy music now. I used to buy 20-30 CDs a year back in my 20's. That converts to about $500 per year on buying music. Does the current generation of 20-somethings buy that much music? I get the feeling they don't. If they don't, then the studios are going to cut back somewhere.

Originally Posted by lumberjim

the Grateful dead give your statement the lie.

True.

That's the difference between a band that gets its money from touring and one that likes to stay in the studio.

I'll see your Dead, and raise you the Beatles. The Beatles toured a lot early on when they played simpler music. But they didn't venture out of the studio later on when their music got more complex. Sgt. Pepper would never have come out unless the fans were willing to pay for it. You can't really perform Sgt. Pepper live the way you can in a studio.

Originally Posted by LabRat

Unless it's an action movie, where the big screen and sound effects make the theater a better place to get the whole experience than my La-Z-Boy, I would rather watch a movie at home.

I think it's exactly that type of blockbuster movie that will become extinct, because they are more expensive to make. It will take a while for it to happen, because of bandwidth issues downloading movies, but I think we are headed in that direction if people aren't paying to watch them. I understand movie revenues are down this year over last year.

Bands will evolve to stay in the game, but I think where we are headed is smaller acts. Bands will have to tour more to survive. No more making a few hit records and retiring. Not necessarily a bad thing, just different.

[LabRat]

Originally Posted by glatt

When I was in college, years ago, I would make cassette tapes of albums and CDs that others owned. These were albums I never would have paid for in the first place, because I didn't know the music that well. If it ended up being an album I liked alot, I would buy more CDs from that artist. If it was a band I ended up not liking so much, I wouldn't....People like Articrono are going to be the death of the entertainment industry as we know it.

I did this too, making tapes of tapes or CD's, and usually ended up buying more of the real thing from groups I liked. I easily had less than 5% of my collection being the copied type. Usually, I made 'mix' tapes because I didn't have a CD player in my car !

I don't think it's such a bad thing actually, because I got exposed to a lot more types of music then I EVER would have if I only had the option of buying.

As for the movie industry, for me, seeing a movie in the theater is as much about getting out for a night and having way too expensive popcorn and jumbo boxes of candy as it is about the movie itself. Personally, what has kept me out of the theater is the movie rental places. If a movie doesn't sound all that great, but I still want to see it, i just wait for it to come out on video. Which these days is amazingly fast. Unless it's an action movie, where the big screen and sound effects make the theater a better place to get the whole experience than my La-Z-Boy, I would rather watch a movie at home.

No annoying public there, and there's no stupid armrests to get in the way of making out...