[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

distribution problems



I'm still poking around the Big Band Database.  There's a brief article
on the Internet as a vehicle for music distribution.  This is an old
concept by now, but the guy does make a couple of good points, without
really trashing anybody.  First, the current problem, but from the
viewpoint of retail shops, somewhat different from the usual:

>Today, record shops are faced with a very real problem. Many of the
large record shops are having to decide just which disks to keep in
stock. The Indies and Majors are annually producing over 33,000 titles,
roughly 100,000 CD's every 3 years. Forget the small record shops for
the moment. Just realize that only the very large record shops may be
able to provide shelf space for perhaps 200,000 disks. Some music
genres may thus suffer. 


This qualifies as a definite understatement.  There's been discussion
on the lists about the narrowing of focus within record companies, and
the tight marketing guidelines that keeps most music off the radio and
MTV.  The guy is likely talking about new music here, as everybody has
to produce a cd every couple of years to be considered a "working band"
or a "working musician" and to stay in the public consciousness.  The
rate of production contributes 33,000 a year to the sum total of music
that is available, or could be made available through re-issues and
etc.  All providers of music, not just shops, have to make decisions on
what they can carry and what they can't.

The difficulty with distribution is the system, of course.  Artists
expect to have a contract with a record label to officially distribute
their music, and they get advances against sales, and then a dribble of
royalties which gradually drop off as the music ages and falls out of
circulation.  There are also royalties from public performance, and
here is where the Big Band guy makes his points:

>Presently, various music societies, such as ASCAP and BMI in the USA,
protect and compensate musical copyright holders through the use of
various licensing fees. The original intent was to collect fees only
from commercial users of music, such as radio shows, nightclubs, motion
picture studios, elevator and office background music, restaurant
jukeboxes, and others. Essentially, this is a problem in counting --
the number of air plays, or number of listeners, etc. But this
'counting' will NOT be an 'online' problem.

>A brand new reality is now in place. Computer information servers can
easily track the reception of finite music quantities. In other words,
the sales of CDs or even the downloading of music files is easily
tracked, - and just as easily payable via online credit transactions.

>It is now possible to envision a future where micropayment systems
will exist, crediting an artist's account every time a musical CD/file
is purchased and/or downloaded to an end user or listener. In fact,
bootlegging, an issue that has for years plagued the music industry,
will now become a big 'plus' for the industry. Computer transfer of
any music can automatically trigger a credit to a source copyright
holder's account. Such a system of "Direct Internet Micropayments" for
digital music may very well be the single largest change of doing
business in the music industry's long history. Not only could it
transform the pricing of music, but it could very well alter the
traditional relationship between an artist; the contracting record
label; and the consumer.    

I think most consumers would be all right with this solution--most
would pay a micropayment to the artist for the download or play of
songs.  As this guy says, the structure exists to make this a reality,
but Pete doesn't seem to feel he's being well-represented by BMI--he
has to pay the licensing fee to perform his own songs and then doesn't
get the money back in the royalties for same.  Plus, the current
"counting" system is, at the least, based on flawed sampling, and at
worst is full of graft.

It seems the best course for artists right now would be to push for
reform of the collection organizations and the institution of a more
accurate counting system.


LB      

=====
...you're dicing with the devil.  ;)
Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage
http://sports.yahoo.com/