Is the record industry that full of themselves that they think their sales would skyrocket if P2P never happened? Apparently they are, just look at this graph they presented.
Give me a minute I will present a graph that shows if I had picked a different number in the lottery 10 years ago I would be super rich right now.
For over a decade, US album sales have been racing to the bottom. In the trial brief for their case against LimeWire, the record industry has presented a graph that shows how sales may have fared had Napster never occurred. It’s an interesting chart to analyze. Would sales have continued to race to the top or would the video game boom taken away some steam?
Given the technological and cultural shifts have happened since Napster, it feels dishonest to say that sales would’ve just endlessly skyrocketed.
There’s no doubt that the record industry market would be much healthier today, but would it be this healthy? Had P2P technologies not came to be, many other events would’ve impacted sales negatively. Nowhere near as negatively as others, but still. Is the chart below overly optimistic or not nearly optimistic enough?
(via Hollywood Reporter)
via Record Industry Profits If Napster Never Hit [CHART] – hypebot.
I wish this was the case.
Just another gimmick to try and win a case. Wake up and smell the coffe, record industry. P2P exists and it’s widespread. Deal with it.
Any idea on how to deal with it Gabriel?
Usually the truth in these matters is somewhere in the middle… this is all speculative at best. Also note record companies are 1-trick ponies, they simply do not have other tangeable products to market/produce that were as profitable as album sales. Regardless, they ARE right in that the widespread p2p networking IS stealing and has killed their sales. It was so miniscule when in the 80’s we would record something off another friend’s cassette… obviously it blew up into a monster.
Bernard, If I had a concrete idea on how to deal with that I’ll have in my power the lottery ticket that Mike mentioned on his post! 🙂 What I’m 100% sure that the record industry are clueless.
I agree with both of you on a lot of it… The problem is honestly though, that there isn’t a way to deal with this…. Normal people don’t go and steal groceries or clothing… It needs to be treated in the same way if we ever want to get things back… OF COURSE I AM DREAMING.. so what then? I don’t see much hope for regular people making a living off of albums anytime soon.
The whole business had changed, because the people pushed that change. You should adapt or die. Take a minute to read this post: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2011/02/4-reasons-why-the-cd-release-complex-is-dead.html
No denying that P2P impacted sales. But to think that if it never existed your sales would just continue to go up is stupid. There is always some unknown factor that will show up and impact things. Change in economy, change in music styles, wars, natural disasters… to think nothing else would have impacted sales is just dumb.
Gabriel has it right. Actually, what’s not mentioned here is the opportunity for smaller artists has increased. An artist can now record and distribute their own music more easily than ever before. It’s one of the best times ever to be a music creator (and a music fan). It just sucks to be a large corporate distributor, because now distribution is largely trivial. The people who harnessed horses probably complained a lot about the automobile too.
@ Doug … yes you are right … people can release music for a lot cheaper… but even fewer are actually buying it… Case and point.. My band self released our first c.d. within 1 month we had reports of a site over in Ukraine selling it for 35 cents and us not getting a penny for the sales, nor did we agree to it… People are literally raping musicians.
The thing is… musicians are clueless on how to market and distribute their work. And they still dreaming of being discovered by the majors that will spend lots of buck in developing their career. Not gonna happen.
Who can I sue because I have a chart that shows I should be rich? Its a chart dammit, that means it is true and accurate. Look the line just keeps going all the way up. I paid to have this chart created so it is legit.
Bernard, you need to approach your career not from the angle of making money selling music. You have to make money doing other things. Music will be stolen and given away, fact. Not going to change. So, what else can you do to make money as a band.
Touring, Licensing, TSHIRTS.. all good stuff.. i guess we can’t rely on sales anymore though.. that sucks!
If you make money from selling music, look at it as a bonus. It should not be your primary source of revenue.
@Bernard – Believe me, I understand, I have music I paid to create, that is distributed for pennies (or less) as well. I don’t deny piracy has to stop. That’s a separate issue. I just suggest that removing record companies from the process of making and selling music is a good thing,
@Bernard – Believe me, I understand, I have music I paid to create, that is distributed for pennies (or less) as well. I don’t deny piracy has to stop. That’s a separate issue. I just suggest that removing record companies from the process of making and selling music is a good thing,
The Blacksmiths Union and Saddle Manufacturers of the USA feel their businesses would have continued to grow, too, if Henry Ford had simply not started making cars! (See the minutes of their 1910 meetings…)
I’m not sure if removing record companies would solve the problem. I think that there’s a lot of dinosaurs working on the record companies. But there’s still some works and processes that creators should have control but not doing it themselves.
I’m not sure if removing record companies would solve the problem. I think that there’s a lot of dinosaurs working on the record companies. But there’s still some works and processes that creators should have control but not doing it themselves.
I think record companies are a dying breed. They will stay somewhat relevant, but become much less important as technology and bandwidth increase. I see music selling in a more viral, grass-roots way in the decade ahead. The publishing industry is going through a similar metamorphosis. Record companies provided two things, distribution and marketing. I think both tasks can be achieved with much less capital than before. Take Michael for example, with much less capital than ever before you could hire Michael to provide a marketing and network campaign for your band that would rival the net presence of any major band. It’s people like him that can navigate the music industry in the decade ahead…while the power of say David Geffen, should (I hope) diminish. If I had a band and wanted to move forward, I’d stop soliciting SONY, I’d go indie and hire a great marketing/network person. I’d develop a recognizable brand, appeal to an entrenched audience and then exploit ever network the internet offers to promote my music. I think it can work, (except, as was pointed out before), the pirates swoop in and steal your craft. One issue however is competition. It is greater than ever before. There is a LOT Of new bands out there vying for attention, so as a consumer its amazing, but as a solicitor it becomes all the more difficult to stand out from the crowd.
I think record companies are a dying breed. They will stay somewhat relevant, but become much less important as technology and bandwidth increase. I see music selling in a more viral, grass-roots way in the decade ahead. The publishing industry is going through a similar metamorphosis. Record companies provided two things, distribution and marketing. I think both tasks can be achieved with much less capital than before. Take Michael for example, with much less capital than ever before you could hire Michael to provide a marketing and network campaign for your band that would rival the net presence of any major band. It’s people like him that can navigate the music industry in the decade ahead…while the power of say David Geffen, should (I hope) diminish. If I had a band and wanted to move forward, I’d stop soliciting SONY, I’d go indie and hire a great marketing/network person. I’d develop a recognizable brand, appeal to an entrenched audience and then exploit ever network the internet offers to promote my music. I think it can work, (except, as was pointed out before), the pirates swoop in and steal your craft. One issue however is competition. It is greater than ever before. There is a LOT Of new bands out there vying for attention, so as a consumer its amazing, but as a solicitor it becomes all the more difficult to stand out from the crowd.
Alan, tell them to get a chart commissioned and sue the auto industry.
@alan Awsome.
I dispute the big labels’ myth about “piracy” but even in that regard P2P is hardly the record companies biggest problem since 1995. MP3 and the ability to rip CDs plus the Internet is all you need. P2P is just a way of networking, there are plenty more. Can we see the same graph based on “if we still had shellac 78s”?