Recently, several lawsuits have been filed within the world of
music that reflect industry concern over new technologies. One such
lawsuit was filed by the Recording Industry Association of America
against MP3.com. It alleges copyright violation in the Web
site’s provision of access to full albums by established
artists.
The judge in this case agreed with the RIAA that this was indeed
a copyright violation. MP3.com has since removed many established
artists from its access lists. Another related suit was filed by
the group Metallica against Napster, an Internet service that also
allows users to download music that other users put online. In
other words, it’s the old-fashioned idea of recording music
that you like for your friends, but with a high-tech application
and a much wider audience. Meanwhile, other related lawsuits seem
to pop up every day.
All of these lawsuits, of course, show that the music industry
is worried about losing profits it is entitled to. Rather than
worry, though, the music industry has to realize that since
technology will change, it must change with it. The music industry
should also spend a bit of time looking at previous instances when
technology changed the way things were done.
For instance, the rise of television made many people in the
movie industry despair, since it was seen as a free alternative to
going to the movies. Certainly if people could get the same motion
picture entertainment for free, they wouldn’t pay for the
experience. But the fact remains that television is not the same
experience as the movies. And the biggest moneymakers of all time
in the movie industry all happened after the advent of television.
Just consider “Star Wars,” “E.T.” and
“Jurassic Park.” Clearly, this analogy provides the
music industry with a strategy for competing with MP3.com and
Napster.
Music moguls should take a hint from the movie industry, which
learned to provide alternative entertainment that could not be
confined to the small screen; the music industry should develop its
product to be so desirable that consumers will want the original
copy rather than the bootleg.
There are several ways to accomplish this goal. One is to make
the product available to the consumer in CD form well before it can
be distributed on the Net with only various samples as teasers. Of
course, this would require much secrecy and protective action
around the new releases, but this is nothing new to record
companies. They have a track record of making sure that release
dates are adhered to.
There has been traditional rigidity in holding to a release date
for a product that has been sitting around in the back stock of a
retail store. That is, however, actually counterproductive to the
goal of providing the CD to retail consumers before it hits the
Internet. After all, if it sits around in back stock, any employee
could download it into a computer before it hits the racks.
Another thing the music industry could do is to improve upon its
product. For example, it can make its CD packaging or the sound
quality better and always be on the lookout for the latest
technology to make the product appealing. It can also advertise the
collectibility of its product, reminding consumers that copies
taken off the Internet will not be keepsakes in any way.
Advertising campaigns that stress such sentimentality as well as
loyalty to favorite artists may also make traditional products more
appealing to the consumer.
The final adjustment to increase the appeal of the compact disc
may be to somehow drive down its price. The price seems to be
increasing rapidly, well past the point of inflation. Naturally,
decreasing the list price of compact discs seems feasible.
The logic of this is easy to see: people who do not really have
the money to buy a CD would much rather download it for free. But
perhaps if they had a less expensive choice, they would prefer to
have the packaging, lyrics, gloss pictures ““ all the things
that the artist whose music they enjoy listening to has provided
for them on the traditional compact disc.
This also speaks to another idea I have touched on already: the
further cultivation of artist loyalty. Artists need to treat their
fans right and be fully accessible to them. Even established
superstars have periods of time when their brightness is fading, so
all artists should be encouraged to do tours, appearances, drop-ins
and surprise performances to make the fans believe that they
care.
Another thing the music industry could do with this new
technology is embrace it, rather than sue Web sites or continually
compete with them. After all, radio has been providing music to
consumers without charge for many years, and the music industry has
done a great job forging a relationship with radio.
In the same way, these Internet Web sites could be used as
promotional materials for up-and-coming artists. These artists
could be exposed to the many subscribers of these sites as
potential listeners, and the record companies could advertise
upcoming concerts and other events that subscribers might want to
attend.
After being personally exposed to the performers, people are
more likely to be fans who want actual copies of official materials
from the musicians themselves. Of course, overpriced artifacts
won’t help things. I specifically remember a Whitney Houston
concert that charged nearly $15 for a program. How many fans could
be loyal enough with prices like that?
As a rather ironic use of these Web sites (considering the
current lawsuits), record companies could even provide chats with
their artists on the sites that currently provide opportunities to
download the music of those very same musicians. This would help
accomplish the feeling of fan loyalty, expediting product
sales.
A final note to the music industry about its concern over sales:
Last month, “˜N Sync’s latest CD, “No Strings
Attached,” sold 2.4 million copies in its first week and more
than one million in its first day. These phenomenal sales occurred
in the midst of all of the subscribers to MP3.com and Napster
downloading their favorite songs into their own computers.
My intuition says that the fans of “˜N Sync are probably
computer-savvy enough to have used these sites to get the music for
free, yet they are still buying copies of the intended product (the
CD remains No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart as I
write these words).
This proves that it is not impossible to sell enough product
even if people have access to it in other ways. And no matter what
is done about it, there is no way to prevent people from finding
access in other ways. Remember, even before MP3.com and Napster,
people were recording their friends’ compact discs on
cassettes for private use.
In summary, my advice to the music industry is to get with the
times, use the technology to your benefit and cultivate the fans of
your artists. And one more thing: stop worrying.