Great Article to read in the wake of the RIAA Victory



In case you missed it: RIAA Wins File-Sharing Suit, Woman Fined $222,000 (ugh)

Here's a great article talking about how the music industry is fighting a uphill battle.

The Inevitable March of Recorded Music Towards Free
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/04/the-inevitable-march-of-recorded-music-towards-free/

Here's a snippet:
The economics of recorded music are fairly simple. Marginal production costs are zero: Like software, it doesn’t cost anything to produce another digital copy that is just as good as the original as soon as the first copy exists, and anyone can create those copies (meaning there is perfect competition and zero barriers to entry). Unless effective legal (copyright), technical (DRM) or other artificial impediments to production can be created, simple economic theory dictates that the price of music, like its marginal cost, must also fall to zero as more “competitors” (in this case, listeners who copy) enter the market. The evidence is unmistakable already. In April 2007 the benchmark price for a DRM-free song was $1.29. Today it is $0.89, a drop of 31% in just six months.

Update: Also check out this article via Ars Technica: How the RIAA tasted victory: a perfect storm which might not be repeated

Posted: Mon - October 8, 2007 at 07:27 AM           |

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