There’s a lot of talking about Hollywood failing and music industry that is not able to face people downloading everything.
I am a big passionate of music, mainly electronics. I like watching movies, not as much as I listen to music, but still it’s a great way to spend some time off. I love TV series, especially the american ones.
Now, there is something wrong in the system. I know a lot of people who never buy an album or a dvd, because they simply download all the stuff they want, illegally. They don’t care to have some physical items with them , they don’t care about the joy to open a double vinyl or to watch a movie in HD quality and some extras too. But they enjoy the product. The product is made by someone (musician, artist, director…) that has to live with what he’s producing. The simple thought is: you keep downloading stuff, till you reach a point where you are not going to download anything since that TV series or that album will not exist anymore, because you didn’t pay for it. And the artist gave up.
There is a culture of downloading stuff. I download stuff, and I feel terribly sorry for what I’m doing. That’s why I’m buying a lot of music and movies I like, but the problem is: they cost too-fucking-much. For young people, an original DVD costs a lot, an original CD or vinyl is way too expensive, going to cinema is prohibitive.
So, what are you waiting for, my dear big industries? Here’s what I think. If you lower the price, people can buy things. But you have to lower the price really a lot. For example: my ideal system for movies will be I watch the film in streaming for 1,5 euro, to pay via paypal or credit card. Then you can delete the film from my computer once I finish watching it. I know there are a lot of services for streaming online, but in many countries they are not present. I have a DVD rent shop near my home, and it’s quite cheap, since it’s 2 euros per DVD for 48h. But still, you have to go out to take it home and then to take it back. And this is not what I call “future”. TV series: 1E per episode. that’s it. simple. Everyone can afford it. Nobody is going to watch movies on TV anymore. Nobody is going to desire to have the film in DVD for the rest of his life. So stream everything for 1-2 euros. problem solved.
this image here is no sense. I just searched “cat download” in google.com images.
Music: how can it be that if you want to buy a new vinyl you have to pay 20E? I mean, 20E are a lot of money. I can afford to buy one vinyl a month maybe, but not more. So, why not to put lower the price of CDs and vinyls so everyone can afford to have an original copy? plus, you can offer some web-based experience related to the music , like free MP3s if you buy a vinyl, or a video to watch online with a special code or something. A lot of musicians are doing this kind of things these days, but not ALL. And concert? I would like to go and watch Radiohead. BOOM! 60E. I’ll go anyway, but I cannot go to other concerts, because you have to choose. There other concerts that cost 100E. It’s too expensive and it’s quite ridiculous because everyone should be able to go to a concert without having a mortgage.
Books: I don’t understand why in many cases the ebook price is higher than the normal physical one. This is insane. The ebook should cost maximum 5E. I have a Kindle Amazon and I really enjoy it. But I don’t find good prices, because ebook are really expensive.
What I’m saying here is that I’m terribly tired to read about people complaining that Hollywood is failing, or about governments making laws against the ones who are downloading stuff.
There is only one solution: LOWER THOSE GODDAMN PRICES. And you, greedy industries, and us, art lovers, can live happily together. Forever and ever.
this post was written listening to ISAM by Amon Tobin (original double vinyl)