by Rob Deters, Columnist
The Recording Industry Association of America is suing the bejesus out of file-sharers in order to scare them straight. Many thought this tactic would backfire, but right now, it seems to be going just peachy.
Sure, a grandma from Boston who has never file-shared in her life was accidentally fingered, as well as a 12-year-old girl. Plus, there is the grandfather in Texas with the improbable name of Durwood Pickle who is being sued because his grandkids downloaded music onto a computer he probably can’t even turn on.
However, the real problem here isn’t file-sharing. It’s the music industry in general. The music industry in the last five to 10 years has been so improbably bad, so horrifically bland, that it is no surprise to most artists, executives and industry analysts that file-sharing is so prevalent.
The fact is, most music sucks. Most of the artists on MTV are terrible. Most of the music people are told is the “next new thing” is doomed to the sales bin in two months. Do I sound cranky? You bet I am.
What is the root of this discontent? Why is the RIAA literally trying to force young Americans to become good little consumers? The problem lies squarely on the shoulders of the crappy bands, venal record executives, preening prima donnas and ridiculous MTV media-whores that make up the music industry. Their downfall is their just desserts.
I find file-sharing to be an absolutely astounding expression of people’s actual choices and free will. It shows what people really want to listen to and what they really care about, not what they’ve been told to consume. File-sharing is unmediated contact between the band and the fan. It scares the RIAA because it makes 90 percent of what a music company does for a band irrelevant.
When the record industry sees a 9.8 percent decline in sales in the second half of 2002, exactly as predicted, but they do not cut prices, do not make more music, do not respond to people’s anger or apathy with anything but a lawsuit, I say, good riddance.
The music industry has always had an interesting dance with technology. After all, music is limited by the format on which it can be reproduced. MP3s are revolutionary in that they essentially produce songs on demand. Some people lament the possible end of the album — I say deal with it.
Ben Folds has announced that he will not record traditional albums anymore. He will record four to five songs, release them on the net every couple of months, and when 10 or so have been produced, it will be released as a regular album. This sort of new interaction with fans (who get the songs first by subscribing to his website) and rejection of the music industry (he loathes it) could be a new paradigm.
Art is not a packagable, predictable item. File-sharers know this. That’s why there is so much more music out there than you could ever know. More than you’d realize if you simply walked into a Sam Goody, watched MTV or, God forbid, listened to any Clear Channel radio station (which is currently damn near all of them).
Make choices not based on advertising! Make decisions not based on having your target demographic identified, packaged and delivered to your doorstep. Demand quality, and you’ll get it.
I am not sure downloading hurts anyone but the music companies. Stan Leibowitz, a conservative economist at the University of Texas-Dallas, is one of the only academics studying the impact of downloading on the music industry. He is perplexed that the music industry isn’t far worse off than it is (world-wide file-sharers download five times as much music as there is sold every year). Stan doesn’t think anything should be done for the music industry at all.
Paying for music on a service like iTunes is a noble and wonderful activity. If I could be assured that half of what I paid went to the artist every time I downloaded one of his or her songs, I would agree in a heartbeat. However, even on iTunes, most of the money you pay for each download is going to the music company, who will continue to produce bad music because it fits middle-brow tastes.
Music, even pop music, is an art. It may be nice to put on a David Gray album and not have to listen to it, but wouldn’t you rather be engaged? Isn’t the point, especially in rock, to piss people off? Anything, except shrug their shoulders.
Before I sound like a crotchety old man (which I probably already do), there is a ton of good new music out. Aesop Rock (the other white rapper, besides that guy from Detroit), Hot Hot Heat, Yonder Mountain String Band, you name it, for every musical taste there is a great band toiling in obscurity waiting for you to download its song, then buy its CD.
See, downloaders, in surveys, tend to buy more music than non-downloaders.
Downloading is like taking the power back. It says to the RIAA that the reins of the music industry will be held by the fans, not the man. It feels good to be on the cusp of something new. Let’s see where the revolution takes us.
Rob Deters ([email protected]) is a second-year law student. He fully supports the Dixie Chicks and their right to piss off the president. And Toby Keith.
