Re: the CDs --> Liberate Music!

[Chris Chovit <cho@newdream.net>]

Mister McKnight wrote:

>Why not just put it on an ftp site and create temporary accounts for 
>buyers
>so they
>can get on there and download it to burn their own?


Hey, that is a great idea!  I got a CD burner a few months ago, and have
been using it like a mad fool.  I have been thinking about this very idea,
which is, basically, to cut out the middle-men from the music industry:
The artist sells directly to the consumer over the internet.

1.  The manufacturing costs are gone.
2.  The distribution costs are reduced - just server costs.
3.  The artist gets ALL the profit.

The consumer would benefit, as well, since the price of the product would
surely drop with all the costs and middlemen cut out.

I would even encourage artists to give their music away for FREE!   [Of
course, at this point in my life, I am still the consumer, and not the
artist, so I may be biased here.]  But here are some good arguments for
doing this:

1. The artist's music will be exposed to more people (namely, all the
people who wouldn't have paid money to experiment, but was willing to give
a listen if it were free).

2. The artist can still make money selling PRODUCTS, (ie. cd's, tapes,
t-shirts, etc.).  After all, not everyone has cd burners, so there will
still be a demand for material products.

Personally, I feel good about giving money to artists whose work inspires
me, so I would still buy products (as I do now) from those folks who I
considered to be QUALITY.  I would still download their music for free, but
I would be inclined to support them by going to their shows, buying their
actual cd's, t-shirts, etc.  The way I see it, its a win-win for artists &
consumers & the only ones who will lose with this scenario is the record
companies and retail stores.....and I think I can live with that.
(Besides, they can always merge with ISPs and become music servers).

- chris