Record firms should work with newest technology

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Record firms should work with newest technology

A few months ago I noticed that my oldest son was downloading songs from the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack with the file-sharing software Kazaa.

"You know I have that CD in the other room," I told him.

"I want it on the computer," he replied.

"Just download it from my disc," I insisted.

"This is quicker than hunting for it."

"It's on my desk. You pass by it every day."

"This is still easier."

The record companies and movie studios that are suing the Australian creators of Kazaa should have been listening to our conversation, because it illustrated a point that they have been slow to grasp: For people in their 20s and younger, the computer is the MOST convenient entertainment medium.

It is now nearly a tradition that companies that market music and movies fight new consumer technology.

Movie companies battled the VCR with all their might, fearing it would ruin the movie industry. They lost and ended up with a new cash cow - a way to give their movies (sometimes flops) a new life by selling VHS copies.

Record companies got no such bonus after battling cassette tapes.

While their fears that the industry would be crippled due to taping proved to be false, now companies might consider investing in a fleet of Rascal motorized wheelchairs.

File sharing IS costing record companies money. CD sales, especially in college towns, have dropped dramatically and the trend isn't going to get better.

If all you're interested in is hearing one song a few more times, why spend $18 on a CD filled with music you might not want when you can get a decent copy of the song online and burn it on to your own disc? It's immediate and it's free.

While the record companies and some artists rightfully complain that the creators of the music have a right to be paid for their work, the record companies bear some responsibility for bringing this on.

CD prices, which were promised to drop after the cost of developing the technology was paid for, only increased. Record companies became interested only in blockbuster-selling acts and dropped artists who had a core of devoted fans who provided companies with modest but dependable sales. Most importantly, though, companies didn't plan ahead.

All this added up to making it very worthwhile for consumers to figure out ways to get the music they wanted without playing by the record companies' rules.

The record industry hates change (just look at how long they beat dead horse musical trends), so instead of figuring out how to make new technology work for them they are fighting it.

The file-sharing site Napster was successfully quashed in 2001. However, that had a central server that Web surfers had to pass through. With Kazaa, and several other software sharing programs, users link directly to the hard drives of other users. Legally, it will be a tougher battle to win.

Record company concessions to the new technology were half-hearted. New albums offered as downloads were sold at the same price that they could be bought in the store (although sometimes a few days earlier than they made it to stores). Considering that consumers would have to buy their own blank CDs and print out their own booklets, and that the record company wasn't even giving the consumer the wholesale price available to retailers, it seemed like a slap in the face.

A few companies, such as efolkMusic.com have offered consumers downloads and prices that make sense - $1 per song and even cheaper in discount packages.

Finally, last week, I noticed that Warner Bros. Records had caught on. The company is offering a complete download of the new album by the band Trapt for $7.99, with a CD booklet and cover artwork to be shipped through the mail.

It's a fair price - fair enough that it might be more attractive than using Kazaa to get the album.

And record companies should have hope. One of the things my oldest son requested for Christmas was legitimate copies of favorite albums that he had already gotten online.


i liked this article...(even tho its been all said many times b4)

my daughter got albums from the money she got from birthday ..ect
even tho i got the songs she liked
from them already of the net...