Re: your friendly correspondent from the US presents: Free Sampling Killed by Court of Appeals

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 09:03:36 +0100, "Jim Peters" <[email protected]> said:
> Matthew Astley wrote:
> > > Has ownership ever been pushed so far and enforced so rigidly
> > > before?  Or is this something special to our times?
> > 
> > Since how long has there been big money in ownership, and an even
> > larger amount of perceived money?
> > 
> > Suppose the bottom were to fall out of the music market and your
> > average teenager was perfectly content listening to beats generated
> > entirely at random by (e.g.) a piece of public domain software.
> > 
> > Would the lawyers leave music alone?  Seems likely.  Would the cost be
> > too high? I think so.
> > 
> > Hopefully you can rescue a useful idea from under the smothering
> > cynicism and fuzzy thinking.
> 
> So, what we really need to defeat/weaken the current record industry
> is the equivalent of EasyJet or MegaBus -- cheap but cheerful popular
> music sold at rock-bottom prices ... the same kind of stuff that
> already fills the charts, in popular formats (CD), only much cheaper.
> I wonder if this could work.

It seems like EasyGroup are taking the DRM route via Wippit
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/17/easymusic_wippit_alliance/
Still it sounds like Stelios is working on being inivative - I'm
intrigued by his 'Copyleft' concept:

"The latter is a key part of easyMusic's low-cost approach, though the
Copyright section will feature songs priced at 25p and up for content
from both the independent sector - one of Wippit's strengths - and the
majors, both new tracks and back-catalogue material.

Copyleft, by contrast, will feature unsigned acts to whom it's being
pitched as a way of getting their songs in front of a larger audience
and - here's the carrot - potentially record company scouts. At best
it'll be a way to discover exciting new bands, at worst a repository for
the world's worst demo tapes." (The Register)

chris.
-- 
  Chris James
  http://www.chrisjames.me.uk