Quote:
Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Every other industry has laid off tons of middle managers. The music industry can't do the same? I don't think the potential artist-to-consumer music model is really caring about some middle manager's college tuition bills.
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All of those middle managers perform the same function for the music biz that Westlaw performs for us. When some court in Buttcrack, Idaho issues a ruling on liability for speeding dogs, Westlaw takes it in, indexes it, catalogs it, and makes it findable to people like me in Buttcrack, Minnesota. Without Westlaw, I'm forced to keep current in all of the various jurisdictions if I want the ability to know about that particular treatment of speeding dog damages.
Similarly, when some sitar player in Buttcrack, Idaho makes a new song, the music bureaucracy takes that song in, indexes it, catalogs it, and distributes it over the music version of the Westlaw site (i.e., the radio/CD/promo circuit) in a way that makes it findable by me in Buttcrack, Minnesota. Without that service, I need to be looking at every indie musician's website, in every genre, if I want the ability to catch that sitar act.
So, I would disagree that the system is worthless. I have seen little or no info that suggests that it overprices the merch, and the artists don't seem to be fighting to leave that system. I think that the development of p-to-p simply made theft of IP so easy that it's worthwhile to come up with some justifications and rationale that assuage consciences.
