Apple, RIAA alliance
p2pnet.net News Opinion:- Big Music and Apple have an interesting symbiotic relationship.
Apple is fast losing its original identity. In the space of a few short months it’s gone from being the maker of too-expensive computers to the maintainer of a web outlet selling and promoting Big Four record label cartel tracks at a rip-off dollar-per-download.
To Warner Music (USA), EMI (UK), UMG (France) and Sony-BMG (Japan, German) music doesn’t have much to do with music. It’s a ‘product’ aimed at the lowest (and therefore largest) common denominator.
As an article in The Economist said recently, “Even Wall Street analysts are questioning quality. If CD sales have shrunk, one reason could be that people are less excited by the industry’s product.”
Apple isn’t selling music. It’s brokering a commodity. And the commodity it’s dealing is a low quality loss-leader for its iPod mp3 players. Equally important, iPod also one of the primary means of survival for the corporate music industry, which is currently suing its own customers as fast as it can go in an vain attempt to stay afloat as the waves of change sweep over it.
The cartel members are being caught in one lie after another, and their tired platitudes are being questioned more and more often. Their biggest untruth, that their sue ‘em all campaign against file sharers is succeeding, is now being deconstructed on an almost daily basis.
When a publication such as The Economist, read by world government leaders, writes a lead article underlining Big Music’s failure, or inability, to grasp the realities of the 21st century music market, you know the writing is on the wall.
Enemy submarine
It’s like the black-and-white WWII movie where the bad guys in the enemy submarine know they’re done for, but they’re hell-bent on torpedoing everthing in sight before they themselves finally sink to the bottom.
One of the only reason the members of the Big Four record label cartel are still afloat (and impeding the growth of the future of music while they wallow) is because Apple and iPod are acting as life-preservers.
“The iPod and iTunes store are a shining light at a very bleak time in the industry,” Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) said recently.
Apple’s ’success,’ due almost entirely to non-stop PR and the ever-faithful mainstream media, gives the entirely false impression that there’s a corporate online music business.
There will be one, eventually. But it hasn’t arrived yet. Not by a long shot.
That Apple has sold 125 million tracks since it introduced iTunes is headlined around the world as a major tiumph.
It took Apple a year-and-a-half to move these 125 million files. In the real world of online music, however, in the same time frame, something in the order of 16 billion files moved from computer to computer via the p2p networks. But you never see those statistic headlined.
Nor do you hear of record label shareholders wondering why label excutives haven’t quickly moved into this new marketing, and potentially enormously profitable, sales arena.
Never-Never land
The iPod is the Walkman of this decade. And you need mp3 music tracks, not tapes, to play on it.
Whose mp3s?
According to most mainstream press reports, Big Music’s shabby 700,000 tracks.
Sadly, the media apparently believe the Never-Never land dreamed up by the music industry is the real world.
In reality, online, hardly anyone uses Big Music product, not even for their beloved iPods.
They either burn their own tracks from their own CDs, trade them offline with friends, or download them from one of the p2p networks.
But iPod is Big Time and offline, in the ‘physical’ world where ‘consumers’ are easily controlled and buy what they’re told to buy, there’s little awareness of the music revolutions happening online.
But that’s changing. And fast. Every day, thousands, if not millions, of people log on for the first time to discover they’re not ‘consumers’ any more, but customers – customers who have a huge selection of music, not product, to choose from.
Similarly, the major components of the mainstream media are finding they’re no longer on the crest of the communcations waves, but are struggling in the Net’s undercurrents where truth and knowledge are the currencies.
“Much will depend on whether the majors choose to address a problem that is just as important as piracy: these days they rarely develop new artists into long-lasting acts, relying instead on short-term hits promoted in mainstream media,” says The Economist. “That has turned off many potential buyers of new music. In future, using the internet, the industry will be able to appeal directly to customers, bypassing radio, television and big retailers, all of which tend to prefer promoting safe, formulaic acts. That could give the majors the confidence to back innovative, edgy music.
“But much smaller independent labels and artist-management firms can do the same, offering them a way to challenge the big firms head on.”
iPod and corporate music supplied iTracks are keeping Big Music alive for the time being. But that won’t last. When the tide turns, as it inevitably will, Apple and its business partners such as U2 may find themselves in deep water, again.
But this time, there’ll be no way back to the surface.
Jon Newton
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See:-
questioning quality – Music’s brighter future, The Economist, October 28, 2004
October 30th, 2004 at 9:57 pm
You are the dumbest person in the whole freakin’ world. Your argument is so completely lacking in common sense or reason, I will not even digify it with a response. Nuff said.
October 30th, 2004 at 9:58 pm
What a stupid and biased comment.
Why don’t you go search for some WMD somewhere else ?
Apple is ABOUT technology.
MUSIC is content. Nothing to do with Apple.
We don’t care if the music we listen comes from the big 5 or the big Cahuna.
We just want a great music player, great jukebox software and a music store.
October 30th, 2004 at 10:05 pm
Ordinarily I’d take the time to reply to an article with a reasoned response, but this is article contains the most screwed-up rhetoric and logic I believe I’ve ever encountered. I’ve never seen such erroneous information and unmitigated vitriol for a GREAT company, such as Apple, in my life. Jon, you are a sad excuse for a “journalist”. Wait… do I hear Matt Drudge calling your name.
In that I don’t “subscribe” to your pathetic site, I notice I am automatically identified by you as “Anonymous Coward”. At least your site is consistent about one thing: Its ugliness.
Get a life. And while you’re at it get a thesaurus, a dictionary and a literary coach.
October 30th, 2004 at 11:04 pm
Speaking of *unmitigated vitriol*, there’s nothing like a few well-rounded insults to make a reasoned response, I always say
October 30th, 2004 at 11:06 pm
“You are the dumbest person in the whole freakin’ world. Your argument is so completely lacking in common sense or reason, I will not even digify it with a response. Nuff said.”
You already contradicted yourself.
You responded.
Now who is dumb?
October 30th, 2004 at 11:16 pm
Interesting article. Wrongheaded. Incorrect. Vitriolic. But, nonetheless, interesting.
If I understand correctly, you’re angry that Apple has ‘duped’ 150 million people into leagally downloading music from major and independent record labels at a buck a pop. And because of the ‘loss-leader’ technique, Apple has sold over 6 million iPods music players.
In the meantime, P2P’ers have downloaded some 16 billion songs all for free. Thus ripping off not only the (admittedly) nasty redording companies, but the hard working artists, producers, production assistants, advertising companies, graphic artists, etc, etc, etc.
So let me see – my choices are 1) rip off the ‘evil empire’ (including the poor working slobs); or 2) be a sport and spring for up to $1 and everyone gets paid and my conscience is clear.