Shared Culture?

With everything that is on the internets, cable and satellite tv vying for people’s attention, I have to wonder if it is really all that good.

It used to be, there were only 3 channels to watch (4 if you were lucky enough to have a PBS station nearby).  There wasn’t a whole lot of choices as to what to watch.  However, this lack of choice led to something; a shared culture.  Everyone could talk about a show and discuss it.  A tv show could impact a large number of people.

Now, with all of the noise, we are losing out on the shared culture that tv inspired.  We are becoming more and more fragmented.  With the internet, this fragmentation is exponential (especially when the same could be said of music as well as tv).  Are we already lost?

RIP Chrysler Music Legends

One of the first podcasts that I ever subscribed to is the Chrysler Music Legends podcast.  I guess I’m a sucker for music shows that are interspersed with interview, commentary, etc.

Here’s a listing of everyone they’ve covered over the 2 year span:  Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Gloria Estefan, Journey, Tony Bennett, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Nina Simone, Sly & The Family Stone, Carole King, The Clash, Janis Joplin, Simon & Garfunkel, The Doors, Genesis, Mick Jagger, Aretha Franklin, Traveling Wilburys, Pretenders, Robert Plant, Chicago, Foreigner, The Doobie Brothers, and The Cars.

I’m guessing that Chrysler decided that they needed to save some money (the US auto industry stinks right now), and they’ve pulled the plug.

The podcasts were put together for Chrysler by Rock River Music.  They did a great job with these podcasts.

I am going to miss getting these monthly podcasts.

» Seth's Blog: Music lessons

Interesting thoughts on how things are changing for anything with digital distribution.

Patron of the Arts

I was thinking that being an artist (musician, etc.) must be a pretty hard life. Getting your product out before the masses and noticed is nearly impossible. Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a simple way for people to support the artists they enjoy? I’ve got an idea for this (but lack the time/means to make it a reality). Well, in reality, it’s a very old idea. Why not have a simple way for regular people to be a Patron of the Arts for those artists that they enjoy?

The basic idea is that a “gift” fund is set up for a given artist. People then “subscribe” to this fund and give the artist a modest yearly gift. I’m thinking something along the lines of $10 (US)/year, but since it’s a gift, you could contribute any amount. Think about it, you can’t buy much with $10, but if 2,000 people join you in providing a gift to an artist, that would be an extra $20,000 (US) for the artist. From what I can tell of the tax laws, this would be tax-free money for the artist as well.

If you gave any one person gifts in 2006 that valued at more than $12,000, you must report the total gifts to the Internal Revenue Service and may have to pay tax on the gifts.

The person who receives your gift does not have to report the gift to the IRS or pay gift or income tax on its value..

Gifts include money and property, including the use of property without expecting to receive something of equal value in return. If you sell something at less than its value or make an interest-free or reduced-interest loan, you may be making a gift.

IRS Tax Tip 2007-39 - emphasis added to the 2nd paragraph

This should really help artists make ends meet and let them focus more on what we want to see from them, artistic output. This should work for any and all artistic endeavors…music, painting, photography, sculpture, writing, etc.

So, are you willing to give an artist a $10 gift to help them out? This would only work if you aren’t expecting anything in return.

“ Too much of today’s music is fashionable crap dressed as artistry. It’s mostly about the way you look or how you dance….maybe creativity will become fashionable again.

— Adrian Belew - Life In a Nutshell

A Tale of Supply and Demand

Many years ago, Edgar made money distributing copies. He was the only one with access to the original work and had total control of the copies (the number of copies, their quality, etc.). All he needed was the right marketing to make certain that there was demand for the copies he could provide. Life was good for Edgar.

The march of technology started catching up with Edgar. People could start making copies of Edgar’s copy. Sure, the copies were never as good as the original, but for most people, they were close enough. People started sharing copies (of Edgar’s copy) with their friends and family. Edgar felt threatened…but the threat was somewhat contained…making copies was time intensive (and many cases, the people who received a copy eventually purchased a better quality copy from him). Then the internet happened.

Now, instead of having a limited distribution, copies of Edgar’s copy were made available to everyone (technology kept marching on, making copies became quick and easy). Edgar had no way to control the situation. He started labeling this sharing as piracy (they were robbing him of potential (not guaranteed) income). He spent a lot of money to convince everyone that it was wrong. Quite a few people agreed (although their perception was that they were robbing the creator of the original work, not Edgar).

Along came Steve. He had an idea. Steve could set up a virtual store for Edgar. They could change the distribution model so that people had a way to pay for those copies that Edgar wanted to distribute. In order to appease Edgar, Steve would add some controls to the store so that people were limited in how they could distribute their copies.

Steve did a lot of research. He determined a fair price for Edgar’s copies. People seemed to agree (buying tons of copies in a short period of time). Edgar was now making some money from those people who were previously sharing copies. Edgar started seeing money again. Then Edgar started thinking about growing this money pile. Why not charge more for those copies that people wanted most?

Steve tried to convince Edgar that he shouldn’t try to get greedy. Steve tried to remind Edgar of the research. Edgar didn’t seem to care…he hinted that he might take his copies out of Steve’s store unless he could charge what he wanted. Edgar had forgotten the rules about supply and demand. Edgar hadn’t taken into account that supply was infinity. He didn’t think about how that might impact things. He just thought that if people were willing to pay one price at Steve’s store today, than surely they would pay a little more for certain copies tomorrow.

Steve went on to point out that limiting how people use their copies was hurting Edgar. If the people were content with their copies and felt that they were paying a fair price, even more people would become customers if there weren’t any limits. Edgar thought that this was insane.

Edgar thought wrong. Steve refused to change prices. Steve decided to remove limits. Edgar took his copies and attempted to open his own virtual store. People started going back to getting their copies for free from the internet…that is until Steve announced a deal with a certain record company. Steve’s company would now become an original distributor of original copies…the creators of the originals flocked to Steve’s company. Edgar, the middle man, was now out of a job.

If only Edgar wasn’t worried about control and greed…

The End