The future of big music labels

[mdlbear]

Big labels are f*cked, and DRM is dead - Peter Jenner | The Register

Interview Few people know the music industry better than Peter Jenner. Pink Floyd's first manager, who subsequently managed Syd Barrett's solo career, Jenner has also looked after T.Rex, The Clash, Ian Dury, Disposable Heroes and Billy Bragg - who he manages today. He's also secretary general of the International Music Managers Forum.

And he doesn't pull his punches.

The major four music labels today are "fucked", he says. Digital music pricing has been a scam where the consumer pays for manufacturing, distribution, and does all the work - and still has to pay more. Labels should outsource everything except finance and licensing.

Comments

[aerowolf.livejournal.com]

What we need is a fully descriptive data model... so that a system can be created which automatically keeps track of all of that information for any given composition and all recordings of that composition.

(Preferably, it'd link into the databases of ASCAP/BMI, and the HFA, to verify data as printed on, say, CD jackets. And would also include such things as general licensing terms -- ASCAP/BMI, HFA, Creative Commons licenses, founder's copyright, public domain, etc.)

My way of looking at it is this: a network transmission is a broadcast, unless it's transmitted in a form intended to be saved on the other end. Recordings of netcasts should be akin to recording a tape of a radio station -- "home taping is killing music" notwithstanding.

Of course, none of this will matter in the long run unless some container format allowing for multiple streams of data is made usable and useful. (I'm thinking something like TIFF, only not for images.) Basically, I don't want to have to modify the actual data contents of an MP3 or OGG file to include an ID3 or its equivalent, since that screws up duplicate file scanning.

Meh. I should probably go to sleep.

[mdlbear]

The problem is that there's no difference between a "storage" download and a "streaming" download -- nor should there be.

The only fair thing is a flat license "tax" that covers all network transmissions, and some kind of sampling scheme to apportion it to the rights-holders. This is essentially what's happening in the broadcast world, but the labels want to change the deal because they don't get a cut of small performing rights.

As I said, it'll get worked out, but the working-out will be legal, not technical.