There's a saying that goes : Don't buy fish in the ocean.
Studios and all assume that people are thieves.
There are a number of cases to think of:
Tim Ferriss teamed with.. BitTorrent to distribute his latest book (4 Hour Chef). He wrote a detailed article on his experience and the correlation between BitTorrent downloads and sales (number driven he is, he tracked that real-time).
The model was the second-shareware model of early DOS games (you get part of the content, and if you like it, you buy the rest). And people bought it. There was an ad on BitTorrent clients. I haven't bought the book yet, but I haven't even downloaded the free content since I'm saving the thing for later.
There was Radiohead releasing "In Rainbows" as a "Pay what you want" which is extremely risky (since you're giving all the content). And yet, I'll let the reader look up the numbers (it ended being pretty lucrative, since a lot of people pre-ordered it).
Studios and Publishers seem to forget that a lot of human beings would pay if it were easy. One of the reasons I got a MasterCard recently is to pay for books I've read. I live in a country where English isn't spoken, so there's no way I can find them in libraries, I tried to buy on Amazon, they told me they can't ship it where I live.
Second: It's ridiculous to expect of me to buy a movie I haven't watched, or a book I haven't read.
Bear in mind that even with content so easily to be pirated, most movies, and I mean like 99% of them, I wouldn't waste bandwidth to download them. I swear that I wouldn't even watch them if I were paid. Why ? Because a movie is 1h30 to 2h minimum and my life is made of hours and minutes and seconds. I don't like to waste my time. It's not like I'm immortal.
So most movies are crap to being with, not everyone is De Niro.
An other reason: Content is hardly accessible the legal way because their platforms suck big time. I give an example ?
Say there's an interview on NBC or CNN (though free).. I wouldn't watch it on CNN or NBC, because their site is so slow, their players are horrible you want to punch your laptop. So I go to Youtube and find that video and watch it without a glitch.
So I wouldn't even watch free content on the platform of the provider of this free content, because his platform sucks !
If your website is straining someone's computer's resources and making the fan go crazy, you got to ask yourself tough questions (and probably fire some people).
I gladly pay for things. I donate on random websites just because I want to, or because I liked something, or because they had a funny thing, etc.
> Second: It's ridiculous to expect of me to buy a movie I haven't watched, or a book I haven't read.
I've heard this argument many times before, but don't buy it (no pun intended).
There are enough professional and user reviews, video clips, etc of everything for sale online that anyone can make an informed decision on whether the product is likely to be something they'll enjoy.
Why not take advantage of all these great online sources? If many films, for example, haven't suited your taste it may be more valuable spending some time on sites that help you find films more to your taste, and reading/watching/listening to user opinions that are more in line with your own.
That said, I do prefer music services that allow the user to preview tracks prior to purchase. Even Youtube has become a popular platform for previewing content. Seems reasonable for such a type of short-form media.
As for accessibility, companies do need to provide better and more open support for customers to consume their content. It's come a long way though, and hopefully it becomes even more consumer-focused in the future.
I feel like that would stem from the belief that people only watch movies once, ever.
I mean, people re-read books. People listen to the same music many many times. And I don't know a single person who hasn't watched a movie they really like more than once. Most have seen some movies dozens of times.
I would not mind watching a movie with ads in some crappy streaming service for free if I also had the option of buying a DRM-free copy (an actual copy, including all the rights afforded to ownership of that copy by copyright law and by consumer laws, not a license to access a copy) at a reasonable price that I could then play on ALL my devices at the highest available quality.
That's how music works. That's even how physical books work. I don't buy the argument from big media that movies are special snowflakes and deserve to be protected from us by DRM and kept in bullshit distribution systems (like movie theaters or "pay per view" premium cable services).
>There are enough professional and user reviews, video clips, etc of everything for sale online that anyone can make an informed decision on whether the product is likely to be something they'll enjoy.
Most people have bad taste, or are fan-boys. I didn't like "The Batman Rises". Yes, it's Nolan. The extra (actors) were aweful (some of them were laughing in fighting scenes). The scenes where there was a riot, I've seen extras punch the air, etc. Sometimes, Batman wouldn't even hit somebody for them to fall, or worst, hit someone and someone else falls(scene where he gets attacked by a group at night). This is sloppy. Not to mention that the fighting scenes are basically the guys lining up to get their arse handled to them. Why don't you use your gun and shoot the little bat ?
Just weak.
There are tons of movies that are basically a pump and dump scheme. They go heavy, all the way marketing and amping it before the release... Not to mention include scenes in the trailer that aren't even in the final movie. And then release and try to make a killing the first days, because they probably know people will realize it's a shitty movie.
The rest is DVD's, etc..
How many actors can you say are great ? How many screen-writers write really well ? How long have you not seen a movie as The Godfather ?
Extend that to music, too .. How many artists there are, really ? Most music is junk, it sounds exactly the same and you wouldn't be able to make a difference between two tracks (and I have a good musical ear, I mean, I can sometimes recognize a song playing in somone's headphones by its beat).
Furthermore, a lot of "artists" look the frigging same. Lyrics ? Where are the Queens ? And I'm not biased.
Recently, I watched a video of Miley Cyrus a friend was watching. The video was "Jolene". I was speechless and said "Wow ! This song is great". I mean, the lyrics of it. It's vulnerable, etc. It moved me.
And then I said "My God, this song seems coming straight out from the 70's". The tempo, the style, etc.. I listened to it repeatedly. Until I realized that it actually is a 70's song by Dolly Parton (I didn't know her, sorry).
Point is: Good music isn't bound by time. People still listen to The Stones and watch The Godfather.
How many will still listen to the fad music and movies coming out ?
This is the same with books. Pump and dump. Most books I was reading, I'd skim through and then throw it because it's junk. The point is that it would take me more making sure the content is good before buying it (searching reviews of people who aren't me, possibly biased by the author, fans, haters, affiliates) than actually judging by myself (which is done quickly).
>How many actors can you say are great ? How many screen-writers write really well ? How long have you not seen a movie as The Godfather ?
Extend that to music, too .. How many artists there are, really ? Most music is junk, it sounds exactly the same and you wouldn't be able to make a difference between two tracks (and I have a good musical ear, I mean, I can sometimes recognize a song playing in somone's headphones by its beat).
Furthermore, a lot of "artists" look the frigging same. Lyrics ? Where are the Queens ? And I'm not biased.
I'm sorry but this is a load of bull and it's a sentiment that people have been relaying for centuries and it's always ignorant. "This generation's _____ lacks substance but look at ____ and ____ from the past generation and how great it was!"
You can look back on any time period and point out the best of entertainment, just like you can pick out the worst. There was as many awful actors, movies and music when the Godfather was released as there is now, and there is just as much great entertainment being put out right now.
Just because YOU haven't looked past top-40 music and the most popular movies doesn't mean great ones don't exist, and just because YOU only point out the highlights of past entertainment doesn't mean the shitty stuff went away.
You're making interesting assumptions about myself. I speak 5 languages fluently; trust me I watch movies, shows, pieces from many, many countries. (I'm not a native English speaker).
This is valid for my tastes in music, painting, books(I've been raised with classic french litterature, but read stuff from all over the world).
(I find it amusing when I see hipsters saying they're "eclectic", yet all their bands sing in English..)
So I understand your assumption that "most" people are spot on top of a Gaussian distribution, listen to popular music, watch popular movies.. People do what other people do. I simply not. Not because I'm contrarian (although this can prove useful in this era), but simply because I have a delicate taste and been exposed to many nice things to spoil my senses.
Furthermore, my words have been distorted. There are many young actors and singers I appreciate a great deal.
PS: You can't deny that the number of cool movies has "sort of decreased". When you see the sequel of a movie like 300, and sequels for everything.. I've watched so many movies that I can tell how a movie will go and I'll be disturbingly close. Heck at one time I unraveled the plot of a movie my friend was watching while I was almost asleep and only listening to audio. Good writers, we need more of those.
You've really just illuminated what the MAFIAA doesn't want us to understand: that it is empirically false to state that people aren't supporting the arts. But let's not use their loaded propaganda bullshit terms when we're talking about these things. Sharing media isn't stealing. People who share music and movies online are not the same as armed robbers attacking a ship at gunpoint. If we are to win this war--and let's not delude ourselves, it's a war that the traitors started against us--then we must refuse to think the way they tell us to. These people screw over the creative folks who earn them record profits on a daily basis and they will cling tightly to their monopolies by purchasing more laws unless we stop them.
There is another value that is at play in the consumer decision. Artist integrity. People gladly reward integrity by paying. The consumer feels good doing that, because they know they are encouraging more artists to do good work, not just entertainment as a shallow product exchange.
Radiohead had earned people's respect, that's why they could pull it off.
It wasn't just a consumer decison based on availability and pricing. People make decisions based on emotions and value systems.
Totally agree. Value given by artists preceeds reward, not the other way around.
We see this in companies going the extra mile, beyond the call of their duty: For me, it's not business anymore, it's a bond where you become advocate for that company, for life. Where you refer everyone you know. It transcends a purely mercantile relationship.
I pay more because I've had a good experience, I tip when the service is good, when I like the food and the vibe. I increase price when I'm delighted because some people push my right buttons. It may even be a smile that'll make me buy it for a higher price than it is, or not negociate a price.
Studios and all assume that people are thieves.
There are a number of cases to think of:
Tim Ferriss teamed with.. BitTorrent to distribute his latest book (4 Hour Chef). He wrote a detailed article on his experience and the correlation between BitTorrent downloads and sales (number driven he is, he tracked that real-time).
The model was the second-shareware model of early DOS games (you get part of the content, and if you like it, you buy the rest). And people bought it. There was an ad on BitTorrent clients. I haven't bought the book yet, but I haven't even downloaded the free content since I'm saving the thing for later.
There was Radiohead releasing "In Rainbows" as a "Pay what you want" which is extremely risky (since you're giving all the content). And yet, I'll let the reader look up the numbers (it ended being pretty lucrative, since a lot of people pre-ordered it).
Studios and Publishers seem to forget that a lot of human beings would pay if it were easy. One of the reasons I got a MasterCard recently is to pay for books I've read. I live in a country where English isn't spoken, so there's no way I can find them in libraries, I tried to buy on Amazon, they told me they can't ship it where I live.
Second: It's ridiculous to expect of me to buy a movie I haven't watched, or a book I haven't read.
Bear in mind that even with content so easily to be pirated, most movies, and I mean like 99% of them, I wouldn't waste bandwidth to download them. I swear that I wouldn't even watch them if I were paid. Why ? Because a movie is 1h30 to 2h minimum and my life is made of hours and minutes and seconds. I don't like to waste my time. It's not like I'm immortal.
So most movies are crap to being with, not everyone is De Niro.
An other reason: Content is hardly accessible the legal way because their platforms suck big time. I give an example ?
Say there's an interview on NBC or CNN (though free).. I wouldn't watch it on CNN or NBC, because their site is so slow, their players are horrible you want to punch your laptop. So I go to Youtube and find that video and watch it without a glitch.
So I wouldn't even watch free content on the platform of the provider of this free content, because his platform sucks !
If your website is straining someone's computer's resources and making the fan go crazy, you got to ask yourself tough questions (and probably fire some people).
I gladly pay for things. I donate on random websites just because I want to, or because I liked something, or because they had a funny thing, etc.