Syd Hancock syd@toufol.com wrote:
Well yes, it's great that there are many musicians who do give their music away but that is a different issue. Many professional musicians do not want to give their work away. It is arguable that they may be mistaken and that their earnings would increase if they did but nevertheless they do not give it away.
Isn't this just an effect of the status quo and fear of change? As you say, it's a different issue, though.
[...]
So to me one of the key elements is choice: he chooses to give some of his work away but does not give other work away. Yet if someone took that commercial work and used it without permission then in my opinion he would be justified in feeling ripped-off. [...]
I'm guessing you meant to say "restricted" or "proprietary" instead of "commercial" there?
Funny, it's the artistic freedom activists who seem to be decrying publishers to me. Oddly enough, the musicians in contract to the publishers are quiet about it. I wonder why?
I'm not being sarcastic here but I genuinely do not get the point you are making. My lack of understanding, sorry! Can you explain a little further?
Well, the musicians who are in contact under the old system are already doing quite well, so have no interest in changing the system. Of course they're not going to overthrow their "nice little earner" unless they're a totally irrational bunch (and you can find those in music, as in other fields).
The ones who do make the noises are the people who are not being heard because of the distorted way the current system treats certain categories of new acts. Where the publishers once acted as filters for the listener, we've now got the tools to do that for ourselves, so the publishers have moved to a "maximum gain minimum risk" strategy. Why else do they queue up to be the prize in reality pop shows and that sort of thing?
These days, it all seems to be about making as much money as quickly as possible by giving the buyers more of the same and never mind that you may miss the odd superstar-in-waiting. The same people won't be in charge when the company is kicking itself.
Syd (now listening to a stealth-taped concert recording of Ray Charles=20 1995 :-)
The Copyright Inquisition will be using their arcane powers on you later, I'm sure...