Music Sales and the Internet: Together in Perfect Harmony?

From Jon Healey's "Bit Player" blog , on "Hollywood's love/hate relationship with technology":

The numbers from Nielsen SoundScan are in, and for the first time, the number of downloadable albums sold (32.6 million) more than offset the decline in physical CD sales (-30.7 million).

Me from Reason's March 2004 issue on why music industry cries that the Internet and file-sharing were killing them softly were premature--and nothing more than the same old song, with a lazy new rhyme or two.

Comments

[Warren]

I still say we should do away with copyright altogether.

[Christopher Monnier]

I still say we should do away with copyright altogether.

[Brian Doherty]

Christopher---It took me a few seconds to sink in, but you win the comment prize for the week.

[Christopher Monnier]

Yesssss!!

[It trolls for thee]

Christopher---It took me a few seconds to sink in

[NoStar]

Whereas copyrights are still the law, it will be ordered that Christopher Monnier (party of the second part)remitt to Warren (party of the first part) the entire cash value of the comment prize awarded the first week in January 2007.

[:-]

I still say we should do away with copyright altogether.

Spoken, almost always, by individuals who have never created anything of value.

[Blee]

Sigh...I always say I'm not going to get involved in this debate but...

It does not matter whether the industry is being hurt. No argument that focuses on whether the industry is growing or expanding, or whether current music sucks, or whether profit margins on CD's are too large are relevant to the larger issue.

Property is being taken without compensation, against the wishes of the property owner.

[Maurkov]

Spoken, almost always, by individuals who have never created anything of value.

I have, and I'm still in favor of doing away with copyright. You see, it's copyright law that keeps me from publishing my Star Trek slash novel. I... I've said to much already.

Seriously, there are plenty of great works that are derivative. When copyright is finally reformed, there will be a creative explosion like none other. This "Life of the Disney Corporation plus 70 years" thing as got to end.

[Chris S.]

Property is being taken without compensation, against the wishes of the property owner.

That's a good argument for compensating current copyright holders, but not for changing copyright law prospectively.

Property rights are not self-defining.

[Rhywun]

Property is being taken without compensation, against the wishes of the property owner.

Yes. And when the middle-man (e.g. the record company) realizes it has become vastly less important than it thinks it is, and cedes its piles of cash to the rightful owner (the artist), everyone will be happy. Right? Right...?