P2P-Zone - View Single Post - What if Swedish artists were allowed to sample freely?

JackSpratts · 10-06-06, 06:40 PM

i'm not clear why this might prove advantageous to a swedish artist vis-a-vis her american counterpart per-se, since artists are generally free to incorporate whatever they feel like incorporating in their work. the advantage such as it is would occur primarily when said artist proceeds to sell multiple copies of "her" works, and that rarely happens without the aid of a large recording and distributing syndicate, even now in 2006. so i guess we're talking about the advantage a swedish record company would have in profiting from works they didn't invest in, that were (to some degree or another) created by an outside artist and sold without compensation. under those circumstances the swedish record company could do quite well i'm sure. i could see record company business models that encourage the quick packaging of swedish pop bands to clone and sell american hits, that wind up making lots of fast money. i'm just not sure i'm entirely comfortable with such a development.

conversely if we reach some sort of tipping point where ip policy becomes so eviscerated that nobody sells records anymore and all this stuff is pumped out for nothing, in order to rotate turnstiles at concert venues or something promotional like that, then yeah, anyone who could freely and quickly incorporate the latest microtrends in music without having to worry about any plagiarism blowbacks might have an advantage over somebody who didn't...perhaps. it's just that in such a scenario as described above the american band, being the one who did it first would i think have the advantage of freshness, and would gain the most because of it, in international competitions for audiences such as roskilde at least. so ultimately, "firstness," if not actual originality might still command a premium, and the commercial, if not the artistic advantage.

- js.

10-06-06, 06:40 PM	#2
JackSpratts Join Date: May 2001 Location: New England Posts: 10,018	i'm not clear why this might prove advantageous to a swedish artist vis-a-vis her american counterpart per-se, since artists are generally free to incorporate whatever they feel like incorporating in their work. the advantage such as it is would occur primarily when said artist proceeds to sell multiple copies of "her" works, and that rarely happens without the aid of a large recording and distributing syndicate, even now in 2006. so i guess we're talking about the advantage a swedish record company would have in profiting from works they didn't invest in, that were (to some degree or another) created by an outside artist and sold without compensation. under those circumstances the swedish record company could do quite well i'm sure. i could see record company business models that encourage the quick packaging of swedish pop bands to clone and sell american hits, that wind up making lots of fast money. i'm just not sure i'm entirely comfortable with such a development. conversely if we reach some sort of tipping point where ip policy becomes so eviscerated that nobody sells records anymore and all this stuff is pumped out for nothing, in order to rotate turnstiles at concert venues or something promotional like that, then yeah, anyone who could freely and quickly incorporate the latest microtrends in music without having to worry about any plagiarism blowbacks might have an advantage over somebody who didn't...perhaps. it's just that in such a scenario as described above the american band, being the one who did it first would i think have the advantage of freshness, and would gain the most because of it, in international competitions for audiences such as roskilde at least. so ultimately, "firstness," if not actual originality might still command a premium, and the commercial, if not the artistic advantage. - js.