intellectualpropertyczar

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Biden Tells MPAA Obama's Intellectual Property Czar Will Be 'Right'
President Bush Signs Bill To Create Cabinet-Level Intellectual Property Czar

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resonanteye
04/29/09

In reply to Biden Tells MPAA Obama's Intellectual Property Czar Will Be 'Right'
$300,000 to find out I don't really like the decemberists? That's a small price to pay for the continued solvency of the recording industry, I guess.
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something_unique_and_descriptive
04/28/09

In reply to Biden Tells MPAA Obama's Intellectual Property Czar Will Be 'Right'
Sigh... God damnit...

I was afraid this could happen...

Time to start reading up on Canada's immigration process...
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Charles Hamilton
04/28/09

In reply to Biden Tells MPAA Obama's Intellectual Property Czar Will Be 'Right'
Is there a sharper man in Washington than that Joe Biden?
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Hello Mister Walrus
04/28/09

@Charles Hamilton: There is a sharper man - Hillary Clinton. (note the lack of typo)
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Eric Frazer
04/28/09

In reply to Biden Tells MPAA Obama's Intellectual Property Czar Will Be 'Right'
downloading music is theft.

but there is something worse than theft, its called selling a cd for 20$ and only giving 1$(or less) to the artist.

Obama if you want to make a "change", disband the RIAA. Then let all those artists sell their music online on their own. The contracts these artists are involved in should be made illegal.
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Hello Mister Walrus
04/28/09

@Eric Frazer: Record companies have more to do with musical production than artists. They decide what kind of music will sell, audition bands or people that they think have the right image, and then record, market and distribute the music, which is often written by professional songwriters. Do you really think popular music is driven by hungry musicians who want to spread art to the world? No - it's like any other industry, dominated by giant companies with huge marketing swagger.
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Hello Mister Walrus
04/28/09

@Hello Mister Walrus: Plus, you are forgetting everyone else who is necessary to successfully produce an album - recording studio technicians, make up artists, marketers, agents, stage crew, accountants, supporting musicians, etc. You need to rent retail space to sell the albums and to pay retail employees, or funds to support some electronic distribution system like iTunes. TV and radio stations need money to pay for staff and equipment so that the music can be broadcasted. And there's probably a shitton of stuff that I don't even know exists.

The point is, that music distribution is expensive. It's also expensive to run advertising campaigns to tell the public what to like. Maybe in a happy fantasy world, some young talent will pull out a guitar and write a song that magically spreads to the whole world. Yeah... that doesn't really happen.
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m-unit
04/28/09

@Hello Mister Walrus:

wouldn't cost so much for music or movies if they didn't have union contracts guaranteeing useless jobs that cost everyone more money. Do they need a dedicated person to get coffee? It's so bad that if you get your own coffee you get in trouble.

now that is a broken system and we pay the penalties. what happened to the most efficient system winning? This is just the opposite and we pay for it.
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Hello Mister Walrus
04/29/09

@m-unit: That's a valid point. The argument I was making, though, was that artists themselves are only a small part of the process that it takes to produce, market and distribute music. Getting rid of unions would save money, but it would not be enough to justify artists being paid more than a small fraction of the proceeds from album sales.
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phoomp
04/29/09

@Hello Mister Walrus:

And, yet, the indie band down the street producing albums in their basement and distributing them over iTunes sound just as good, if not better.
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Eric Frazer
04/29/09

@Hello Mister Walrus: "The point is, that music distribution is expensive."

not anymore. its called the internet. music should be about music, not massive profits. If music is good it will spread through word of mouth, social networking and other means.

@plonk420: I said (or less) right beside 1$, the "or less" section means that it could be less than 1$, thanks for your comment.
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Hello Mister Walrus
04/29/09

@phoomp: I'm not saying that the most popular music is the best music. The indie band down the street probably does not make much money, if any. It's just that when people think about the "music industry", they should realize that it's a huge corporate blob of which the musicians themselves are only one component.
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Hello Mister Walrus
04/29/09

@Eric Frazer: Ideals are different from reality. Yes, ideally there should be a free distribution system so everyone can enjoy all sorts of music. In reality, that is not the case. Music should just be about music, but it's not - it's also about money. Ideally, good music will spread through word of mouth, social networking and other means. It does to a certain extent, but these means cannot yet compete with big labels with large marketing budgets. Do you think that Britney Spears is regaining popularity due to talent? No - it's because a record label decided that now is the right time to market her again. In the mean time, there are thousands of talented musicians that we will never hear about, since they weren't at the right audition at the same time.

While I respect your convictions, I find it difficult to believe that you are that naive.
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