JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Petition to stop P2P-users abuses

P.E.

The problems aren't as most perceive them. Madonna doesn't lose money from file sharing. She makes it up with higher contracts and concert tickets. The labels also work to make up for the losses by signing fewer acts, spending less on baby acts, and actually putting even more focus on the small number of artists at the very very top. The problems start with all the people who survive at the bottom of the food chain. Beyond just the fact that fewer artits will get signed and fewer songwriters will get cuts at all (because less albums are being released and less acts signed or invested in) it also trickles down to people who work for the industry. Record stores are closing down, which may not bother people who hate corporations, but the ones who are getting hit the hardest are the little mom and pop chains that have always been the biggest supporters of indie artists along the way. You know, those stores that would actually carry local artists and treat them with respect?

Less money spent on marketing small and midlevel acts means less live venues can afford to book those artists to perform and in some cases, can no longer book other acts locally either. You know, those same venues that actually have booked local artists to perform, and who made up for those losses by booking slightly larger acts with a following and a marketing budget to promote the show to put more butts in the seats so the small and midlevel venues can survive long enough to also help other small artists.

Less money pouring in from media companies to support music means less advertising dollars to radio and tv and other media. Of course the Clear Channels of the world will always be the first choice for ad dollars, but small and midlevel local radio stations will be left out. You know, those small local stations that actually play local artists and have affordable ad rates to promote stuff? Well, they can't compete with the market share of Clear Channel and others.. so they end up with no ad dollars.. and since local artists can't pay enough to keep them open.. they sell out to another media conglomerate who don't even program locally, but instead from an office in NYC or Texas somewhere for your local town. No more airplay for local talent.

And of course all these file sharers who are consuming music only really want (as a group) to download stuff they have heard of. After all, indie artists can be legally downloaded now.. but no one wants that. So as more and more people give in to the mentality that we can't stop or slow it down, and we can't charge for it.. what we're really saying is that the only artists who people will ever hear about are those who have marketing budgets.. and we know that fewer and fewer artists will get marketing support because so much music is being given away, only large corporations will be able to get the word out about an artist. So, in this new utopia that some here want to see where no music has value and it's all free.. the corporations will still find ways to make money on peripheral products.. but indie artist will be even MORE shut out than ever before.. no local record stores.. no local radio or media support.. no venues who can afford to pay them to play..

This is the utopia some seem to want. So you can sit and hope people will download and trade your files in the millions so you become rich and famous (from what I am not sure) but that pipe dream is far less likely to be a reality in the future than in the past, as bad as that may have been.

Brian