Get in Tune
There is little
harmony in the world of music these days. Musicians are turning on fans
who steal their work off the Internet, and both feel ripped off by the
production giants of the music recording industry--musicians for having to
sign take-it-or-leave-it contracts and fans for the high prices of CDs.
The Internet has reshuffled the deck for
everyone, but business models are beginning to emerge that can make the
Internet inhabitable for the musicians, listeners and recording companies.
This will take technology, a bit of education and a lot of give and take.
The 1991 advent of MP3 compression
technology, which makes files of near-CD-quality sound easy to download,
has made the Internet a major distribution channel. Enterprising college
students and others have turned their computers into virtual jukeboxes,
assembling music libraries for which they pay little or nothing.
Access to the music is provided by Web
companies like MP3.com, Napster and Gnutella. Of course, taking someone
else's property--and music is intellectual property protected by law--is
theft, but to a vast number of fans, music theft goes hand in hand with
the freewheeling nature of the Net. It also represents a revolt against
the recording industry and its high prices.
The freeloaders get no sympathy from
Warner, Sony, Universal, EMI and BMG, the big five record labels, which
launched a barrage of lawsuits against infringing Web sites and a hunt for
anyone downloading their music free. They also teamed up to create the
Secure Digital Music Initiative, aimed at developing a foolproof way to
deliver music digitally only to those who pay for it. They are right in
disliking freeloaders but foolish in their single-minded pursuit of
violators. Their claimed losses are grossly overstated, as evidenced by
the soaring sales of CDs--up more than 6% last year and 9% in the first
quarter of this year--and surveys showing the Internet has not changed
CD-buying habits.
The producers should
face reality and abandon their quest for secure digital technology, which
would only encourage the rise of ways to defeat it. What the music
companies should do is promote a more equitable, legal system for music
distribution on the Net.
The artists
themselves are divided. Rapper Chuck D says he wants music to flow
unharnessed and unpaid. The band Metallica took its fans to court for
copying its music from the Net, earning mostly scorn. Both approaches are
wrong. Music will flourish on the Internet only if it provides financial
rewards for creators and also takes listeners' wishes into account.
A licensing deal among MP3.com and
Warner and BMG, meant to settle litigation, would give the labels a small
cut every time an MP3.com customer listens to their music. MP3.com hopes
to generate revenue from online and offline advertising and by charging
music clubs a fee for playing their material. Another good model is
MCY.com, which distributes music for a small fee. That way, fans need not
buy an expensive CD to hear one song, and the artist and label still get
paid.
Each party in these disputes has a
legitimate beef, but it's the copyright that makes the music go round.
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