I think Martin’s idea is well thought out and the MI is moving toward that way.

Ihateyou – fuck off moron!

roflwaffel

You have no idea whatsoever about which you write. For example, those Russian sites you speak of have absolutely nothing to do with the Music Industry. None of the funds they charge for the music goes to the artist or album producers. They are simply scumbag thieves who have stolen the material they sell.

As I have said before (obviously you missed it), the MI doesn’t really care what an individual does with music it has purchased as long as it is only for his or her personal use and enjoyment. Therefore they can convert it into any format they wish.

Something else you are completely wrong about IS … music has no competition. It is in a class of its own. The problem IS, that people will not pay for something, anything, that they can get for free. So, if you truly want to effect change in the MI, go on a warpath to shutdown sites who steal it and sell it for ill gotten profit, and/or those that give it away for free, and deprive the artists and producers their rights to profits and livelihood.

Encourage people living within countries, such as yours, that do not honor copyright laws to do so effective immediately. Make the thief of music an offense punishable by death. As quality music becomes available only through its purchase, the current high prices for it will come tumbling down.

Get a team together which is not prejudiced either way and let them analyze consumer demand which is something I suppose they have done but not right in the past.

Adopt features from P2P and those Russian Mp3 sites.

Remove DRM completely. This is only affecting their real customers and not the ones downloading the songs from P2P.

Reduce Pricing for songs bought over the Internet. Maybe introduce a flatrate / volume based rates.

Work on the image.

Increase the value of CDs by making them special compared to downloading the music over the Internet. Not a one-sheet booklet but something bigger and better. Song texts maybe, Artists thoughts about songs or something like that.

They are a billion dollar industry well fed throughout the eighties and nineties who are facing a dramatic chance in consumer behaviorism.

Instead of benefiting from this new ways of distributing music they try everything (copy protection, drm, lobbying) to restrict it.

What they don’t get and probably never get is the following:

# Music is not the only entertainment product. They have to compete with games and movies for instance.

# While they seem to think that all their decreased revenue comes from piracy it actually has more reasons than that.

# They don’t know or don’t care what consumers want.

Let me give you an example. A short one, I promise.

They are fighting against those Russian mp3 sites with all their lobbying power but have no intention to ask themselves why users from all over the world buy their music there.

One reason is of course that it is much cheaper to purchase there but this can’t be the sole reason because those users would get it even cheaper on the Usenet or P2P networks.

Could it be that those sites offered something all those other music portals did not ?

Choosing the format of the music for instance or the Kbps of it.

You are making a mountain out of a mole hill and have tainted the MI’s position in an attempt to make a point that doesn’t need to be made. And, more important5ly, the point you are making is incorrect as I pointed out to you previously.

The MI simply wants to prevent people from illegally copying music and giving it to others. You have brought up only issues that actually do NOT exsist. The MI is NOT, in reality, trying to prevent their customers from making copies of music they have purchased for their own personal use … although some of their protection schemes have in some cases become a by-product of it.

It would be interesting to know what measures you would take to prevent the illegal mass distribution of individual songs and albums in today’s marketplace?

But that is not the point. The MI may may charge whatever they want, they may sue whenever they feel they should do it and they may moan about piracy if they like.

What I don’t get is that they are not capable of providing a flexible, modern plattform to purchase music. They are sleeping since Napster and there is no sign of them waking up anytime soon.

I could not care less because I boycott the MI for about 10 years now. Have bought maybe 5 CDs in that time. Rest is Internet Radio. I can do without them.

No one has ever been prosecuted for making copies of a purchased album to play in their home, car, walkman or whatever. That isn’t in reality what the music industry is against. You people just don’t get it.

A nothing-but-failure and stealing company itself:
1) Betamax
2) Mini Disc
3) UMD
4) Memory Sticks
5) Blu-Ray

Selling “walkmans” for 20 years, while ignoring (=STEALING) the patents of its german inventor.

This “company” is THE role model for every crook out there …