Klarinet Archive - Posting 000040.txt from 2010/07

From: Joseph Wakeling <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Sheet music copyright
Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:51:20 -0400

On 07/05/2010 07:46 PM, Kevin Fay wrote:
> This is a false distinction, Joseph. "Private" distribution of sheet music
> - and recordings - most definitely reduces demand for the commercially
> published stuff, hitting the composer square in the pocketbook.

I realized I did not respond properly to this specific point. I think
it is a question that is less clear-cut than you make out given the
degree of reach and publicity that can be gained from free internet
distribution. The scale of both have changed dramatically and that has
big consequences for what the most profitable distribution model is.

It's the perception of more than a few bands and other creative artists
that their revenues go _up_ when they release material for free copying,
to say nothing of the argument (already made) that when you factor
marketing into the equation, neither the revenue situation nor the
effects on the production of new works are clear.

To be sure, bands like the Grateful Dead (or Nine Inch Nails, who I
think made their most recent album available directly via the BitTorrent
networks) are essentially making a moral choice -- "We're doing fine, it
gives a lot to our fans to operate like this" -- but there's also
business sense in it that shouldn't be written off.
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