by zutgorak | Feb 29, 2012 |
Mediacorporations want to make money. It is that easy, and I can see where that is coming from
of course, and piracy is a big issue for them as they represent a downloaded media file with a
lost sale. Now most of us know that this is not true, that you downloaded the file doesn’t automatically
mean that you wanted to purchase it just to see/listen to it. It has also been established that
media pirates are willing to pay for media in various ways if it has easy distribution.
(Look at spotify will you).
I saw a retweet from @janlindgren to the following image:
And the idea in general is sound, no doubt about it, but there are some things there that even I can see
as not being plausible, for instance to include boxart and extra content and similar issues.
So I gave the idea a few thoughts and a few minutes of my time and came up with this:
So what is that then?
Well, it is an application that can simplify distribution of movies and tv-shows.
You can easily choose the categories you wish to browse, you can choose resolution
and for those of us that has extreme bandwidth, stream both dvd quality and hd quality,
You have the ability to gift media to another person, you can sync to a device
or pherhaps to itunes for you apple-eaters. You can either stream the file through
the application (would make it pretty good for tablets and similar devices) or
download the actual file.
You can also order a physical disc and THERE is where the extra content should be stored.
Include special features like “how was it made”, extra box art, etc etc in these discs to make
purchasing the physical thing a viable option, also you can have the standard order X discs, pick
one or two extra for as a bonus.
Now how should it work. Well, to tell you the truth, I haven’t given that as much thought as I
would like, the quick thought that entered my mind would be that each file that you purchase
should in some way be branded with a unique “tag” for lack of a better word that would
be hidden from the users, only viewable from the mediacorporation and this should be embedded
somewhere in the file. No tracking software, no DRM, just a simple encrypted ID that in no other
way alters the file, making the removal of it redundant (if you can move the file as you wish between your
different devices, what’s the point of breaking it up just to get rid of some text, right?)
So that once you buy this movie, it is a file that you “own” so to speak.
Tether this ID to a string that combines creditcard number and one more factor like
social security number or similar. (means it can be crosschecked with card issuer)
So, lets say a file ends up on a file sharing network. Media company snags the file, reads
the user tag and promptly ban this user from further purchases and from using the network.
Now then, make this application in different formats, so it can be used directly on devices, for
Android, iOS, windows phone, Windows for pc, mac OS X and Linux and also for consoles like
PS3 and Xbox360. Do you see the market impact this has the potential to have?
So what you would do is instead of trying to battle piracy with methods that obviously doesn’t
work, causing disturbances and public hatred towards you, learn from them. Create a platform
that is fast, userfriendly and without hindrance for the paying user and you will see an increase
in generated money from people.
Of course there will always be freeloaders, there always has been, there always will be, but
once again, look at spotify. Music download has drastically gone down since the start of it.
Now, I am not sure how to pull all this together. I have to admit that is a bit beyond my
abilities, but isn’t this something that you, personally, might like to see and try? I know I would
by zutgorak | Nov 30, 2011 |
Now, I am no Apple fan by any stretch of the road, but read this out fully before
you mac addicts burst up in flames.
========================================================
iTunes is a vampire/leech/whatever bad description you can think of.
It has been stated by record companies aswell as artists, the self same companies
are also bashing spotify, however, they themselves own a majority in spotify.
It seems that the record companies really are scared that they are becoming
obsolete and that people are starting to realize it. Here’s a little thing about
those comments of “leeches” and similar that the record companies probably
doesnt want you to read, since reading may be caused by independent thought.
Ok, I can see that the artists that create a song wants to generate
a revenue stream. I dont begrudge them a revenue, but it is not something
that can be considered a “right” that just because you made a song,
you will make money of it. Let me give you a case in point:
The swedish edition of Absolute music 66 consists of the following lineup:
1. Born this way – Lady Gaga
2. In the club – Danny Saucedo
3. Just the way you are – Bruno Mars
4. Leaving home – Nicke Borg
5. Oh my God! – Moniker
6. Indestructible – Robyn
7. Price tag – Jessie J
8. F***in perfect – Pink
9. Like a prayer – Jay Smith
10. White light moment – Tove Styrke
11. Idiot – Lena Philipsson
12. 25 – Oskar Linnros
13. What the hell – Avril Lavigne
14. Heart and I – Robbie Williams
15. Loca – Shakira feat Dizzee Rascal
16. Are you leaving – Erik Hassle
17. Alive – Linda Pritchard
18. Desperados – Pernilla Andersson
19. The king – Playtones
20. 7 days and 7 nights – Brolle
21. I’m in love – Sanna Nielsen
22. E de fel på mej – Linda Bengtzing
23. Spring för livet – Sara Varga
24. Popular – Eric Saade
25. S&M – Rihanna
26. Me and my drum – Swingfly feat Christoffer Hiding
27. My heart is refusing me – Loreen
28. Hold it against me – Britney Spears
29. Higher – Taio Cruz feat Travie McCoy
30. Yeah 3x – Chris Brown
31. Dance alone – Love Generation
32. Baksmälla – Petter & September
33. Blow – Kesha
34. Just can’t get enough – Black Eyed Peas
35. Rocketeer – Far East Movement feat Ryan Tedder
36. I just had sex – Lonely Island feat Akon
37. More – Usher
38. Turn around – Flo Rida
39. Please don’t go – Mike Posner
40. Invincible – Tinie Tempah feat Invincible
41. Follow me home – Killabite
42. Animal – Neon Trees
43. The hunter – Melody Club
44. Like suicide – Christian Walz
45. I’m so happy – Salem Al Fakir feat Josephine Bornebusch
46. Jag vet vilken dy hon varit i – Håkan Hellström
It’s 46 songs, not bad you say, but take a look at the lineup again,
how many of these are songs that you actually would like to have in
your collection? For me, there are 1 song (maybe 2 if i stretch it)
and I will push it, its “Lonely Island Feut Akon – I just had sex”
But if I buy this cd, I will be paying off both Håkan Hellström
(in my eyes, a swedish version of the plague) and Britney Spears
(The american version of the plague) aswell as Salem Al Fakir. Nothing
personal about him, but …. no, i wont even start because I wouldn’t be
able to stop.
Now the price for this setup is as follows: (note that I am not a record
company executive, so I cant tell if these are actual numbers or not.)
Lets assume for simplicity that the artists on the disc will share what
the price is for the disc, IE not calculating store profit, cost for
packaging etc etc etc.
The CD in itself is 159 SEK, estimates to roughly 18-20 dollars.
There are 46 tracks. So, 159 divided by 46 is 3.45andalotomoredecimals.
So each artist is entitled to 3.45 per song. Some of these have dual
artists, so then divide 3.45 into with two (you have a calculator on your
computer, you do the math here) 3.45 ish or half of that per song…
3.45 is about 53 cent or thereabouts.
Now lets bring in the price for shipping, subract VAT (moms) and also,
the cut for the record companies and I am pretty damn sure that the take
would be a lot smaller, probably around half or even a third of those 53
cent so we are below 25 cent per sold disc per artist. And they think
iTunes is a leech? I dont know how much iTunes takes to list a song, but
I pretty much guess that at 99 cent per song, the artist will earn more per
sold song then these “collection CDs”
So .. since the price of this collection CD is about the same as a standard
one artist full length CD, it is still the same equation when you take in
effect that I mostly do not want ALL songs on a disc, there are 1 or 2 that
I really want. So, I have to by 12 pieces of what I consider to be crap
to get those songs. Not bloody likely. I would then rather listen to the
song through youtube or spotify, but guess what …. that is getting restricted
so, I am relegated to using iTunes or piracy, or if the device I choose
to listen to has streaming capabilities, spotify.
Now who is the leech? Itunes, or the record companies?
by zutgorak | Nov 4, 2008 |
Lets take a view on software and software piracy for a while.
Companies state that they are loosing money on software piracy,
but what some of them (not, SOME, not all) doesnt tell the
media is that they are in a way also benefiting from the
piracy that flourishes on the web. This is where the
stalwart exclaim “THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE, IT IS LOST REVENUE”
But hear me out please.
Lets take an example in a product that we all KNOW
is being copied high and low and you can find on
almost every torrent site and DC hub there is.
Adobe xxxxxxx. I will be using it just because
it is named as the standard DTP program and most
people know an inkling of what it is.
No harm on Adobe, quite the
contrary, they have developed both a marvellous
piece of software (the thousands of downloads confirm that)
and they have also built a reputation for being the
leading software engineer for desktop publishing.
Companies that are keeping their own designers
and illustrators generally have xxxxxxx as a stock
application installed, why is that? Well, to some
extent it is that the company knows that the software
is good, BUT here comes the kicker, usually those
types of firms wants someone with experience WITH
those types of software. So, how does a teenager
afford to learn the type of xxxxxxx techniques that
companies today require without having very rich
parents that can buy a license for xxxxxxx?
Ok, you say there is a demo version? Yes there
might be, but demo is a nasty word to younger
generations, to an extent they mean “incomplete
and lacking functions” wich means that the young,
aspiring designer doesnt want to touch it, much
less use it for learning purposes.
There are also student licenses, of course, correct
me if I am wrong here, but arent those also to an
extent time limited and lacking functions?
What do we have left?
Well, theres always the internet, and trust me
its not even hard, heres a tip for you.
http://www.google.se/search?hl=sv&q=softwarename+torrent&meta=
See? That was really really really hard, wasnt it?
I mean, everyone these days uses google or a different
search engine, and just by putting in the words xxxxxxx torrent
in google, I found where I can download it.
Ok, that was a little on how to find it, lets get back on
track. We have this talented teen who manages to download
a copy of xxxxxxx and more or less perfects is technique
and skill in using it. There are always more tricks, but
at this stage he has earned enough of a name online that
companies are starting to notice what he does. So, they
want to hire him. Fine, they hire him for design purposes.
I will give you 1 guess at what his first question will be.
Will I be able to use XXXXX?
If the company already owns a license, fine. If not
they will either A: buy a license or B: see the
guy walk off to another company, or C: wich is the worst.
Tell the guy that he can use another software in the
meantime while they wait for a xxxxxxx license.
What that will accomplish is that they will get a worker
that doesnt have the knowledge that they expected because
he will be operating out of his comfort zone, things that
normally take just a day will take a week because he simply
doesnt know how to do certain operations in the new software.
So, the company that hires him better either HAVE or should
be purchasing a license. In the extension, what will follow
is that when new versions comes out, this young man will
want to try new versions and hopefully the company will listen
to him and purchase more licenses.
That might generate a pretty steady income. The company
will also notice that adobe products keep a high class
and are easy to introduce to new co workers, wich in
turn might generate more license.
What is my standpoint on software piracy?
Well, I dont play that many games, I play Starwars galaxies
wich is a pay per month MMORPG, I play DiabloII online
on battlenet wich requires a purchased set of discs,
and I play a MUD, wich is free to play. So games isnt
really my cup of tea so to speak.
Regarding production software my philosophy is simple
and I tell anyone who asks me. I will gladly download
a piece of software to learn the basics of it, and if
i like it, I might keep it. I will also be letting
people know what I think about it, good aswell as
bad comments. If I ever make something WITH the software
that I make money on, I will purchase it.
It is as simple as that.
Now, here’s something that not many standard computer
users know about. If there is a popular software, chances
are very high that there are open source software that
does and behaves almost exactly the same. Case in point:
Adobe xxxxxxx -> The Gimp
Microsoft Office -> Open Office.org
Ok, the programs capabilities and behaviour isnt exactly
identical, but what you use the most is similar enough that
the transistion is close to seamless.
But really, if some companies have their way, copying
and using open source will soon be considered piracy
aswell.
