It is amazing that Apple gets away with this.
It seems that P2P
file-sharing networks, iTunes, and the iPod have grabbed the
sweet-spot of digital music. Indeed the iPod is the sweet spot.
An interesting fact is that most of the files (90%+) on any given iPod were not purchased from the iTunes store – but are the result of file sharing, cd ripping and other sources. The fact that Apple can be perceived by the labels as a good partner is mind boggling in a way. They are one of the main enablers of piracy.
And Apple is financially eating the labels lunch, transfering the value in the marketplace from the content to the player.
Maybe the answer is to simply monetize file-sharing networks, and join the parade. "You can’t litigate behavior anymore, you have to monetize it," said Ted Cohen, a managing partner at digital consultancy TAG Strategic during a discussion at Musexpo in West Hollywood.
Great commentary from Paul Resnikoff at Digital Music News
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You say about Apple: “They are one of the main enablers of piracy.” – hmmm … in what way? I would think it’d be something else, perhaps limewire, azureus or the lan at the college dorm.
Hi Paul – What I mean is that the tens of millions of iPods out there are filled with music that was not purchased as digital files. Over 90% of the files by some measures. iTunes is used more for ripping cds than for downloading tracks, and it is the way that tens of millions of people organize their music libraries. By releasing iTunes and the iPod into the marketplace, Apple by default is enabling people to organize, play and rip files – 90% of which they did not purchase online. If all the activity were simply ripping CDs that they purchased, then I would not have a case. But we all know that that is not true, CDs are copied and traded; purchased, ripped and sold as used; purchased used and ripped; and downloaded, Im’ed, and MP3 Blogged all day long.
To me, Apple’s negotiation with the lables to sell music online was largely a defensive move to keep the labels from suing them over the widespread use of iTunes and the iPod – to organize and play music that was in most cases, not legitimately acquired.
Certainly Apple is not the only enabler, as you point out, but they are certainly one of them.
Damn Paul, you really have a hard-on for Apple and Itunes. The plain and simple truth is that if you move your feet, you loose your seat! The biz just needs to stop being so greedy…which is not gonna change as long as suits keep running the show.
Monetizing the P2P networks is not a strategy. In this context the networks serve merely as a delivery network, and a poor one compared to an optimized system like iTunes. The best new model for digital music is advertising supported downloaded music.
[...] We have already seen how Apple has benefited dramatically at the expense of the artists, writers and record lables – and shifted the income stream out of their hands and into Apple’s own. Powerful motivation for Nokia to follow suit with an even bigger world view of media and their place in it. [...]
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