Klarinet Archive - Posting 000046.txt from 2010/07

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Sheet music copyright
Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:18:32 -0400

At 04:51 PM 7/5/2010, Joseph Wakeling wrote:
>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.

These guys are using their recordings to promote their TOURS, which
shows you how the economics have changed. Of course, that may be in
part due to the fact that album sales have bottomed out because of
rampant file sharing. They have figured out the trick, though. Give
the album away, and make the fans pay THROUGH THE NOSE to go to the
concert! If they find that to be an acceptable business model, who
am I to argue? But it is THEIR choice, not yours. And your average
composer does not do a lot of national tours, so it might not work as
well for him.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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