"You can't look on that as a lost sale."
Neil Gaiman is a pretty wonderful writer, but this short video might be my favourite thing he's done. The model he talks about applies slightly more directly to books than to music, but I think it holds. Look at a band like Across Tundras and ask them whether they think offering up their albums has reduced sales.
Yes, there are kids who will download every album that comes out in a year, and yes there is a small minority who will never buy anything ever again (because they're assholes), but in general humans want to support the things they love. I am firmly, 100% in favour of artists getting paid for what they do (and as Warren Ellis says, you don't go and steal a house a builder bought), but I have never understood how passing things around before you buy them threatens that.
If I didn't get access to thousands of free books (via public library), I wouldn't have developed the interest to buy the ten books I do buy a year, and support the authors I do support. Music is exactly the same. If I didn't hear something for free on the radio, I would never buy it on an album. If you lend me an album by a band, I'll become their band and go to their shows. Even drug dealers know you gotta give some away before you get people hooked- that the music industry failed to get this with the advent of the Internet explains their current situation as much as anything.
Posted by
Hansel Castro |
1:27 PM
Er... "become their fan"
Posted by
Hansel Castro |
1:27 PM
Yeah, I think the library is a very good analogy here; I discovered a bunch of my favourite authors through there as well. And libraries are clearly awesome.
Posted by
Ian |
4:29 PM