//psy:006
'Musical Tug of War'_Matt Hardisty.
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The rise of free content exchanges
on the Internet has prompted the entertainment industry to decide whether
to take a hard stand against the future of file swapping or to embrace the
innovation being displayed by these 'new tech' start-ups. With the major labels
winning their copyright infringement case against MP3.com earlier this year,
it seems that they are taking the upper hand in the tug-or-war against the
dot com bandicoots, with licensing, syndicating, or 'moneytising content'
emerging as a solution in the virtual wild west.
The 9th June 2000 will go down in history as the point at which the net came
of age and its networked properties were finally realised - MP3.com settled
the copyright infringement lawsuit with Time Warner Music Group and Bertelsmann's
BMG Entertainment. Along with the settlement, they have entered into separate
licensing agreements which allows MP3.com to use their respective music libraries
in its 'My MP3.com' service to capitalise on the popularity and the critical
mass of this new leisure dynamic. A recent report published by the infamous
news feed webnoize.com, 'Napster University', found that 57% of US College
students were weekly users of the file swapping service.
This agreement is the first in a long line of disputes between 'new tech'
start-ups and the music industry, to ensure copyright protection of their
signed works. For example, Metallica and Dr.Dre are suing Napster in connection
with the widespread piracy of their work. What this agreement signals is the
right of copyright owners to be compensated for their works on the Internet
and it is likely that the agreement will open the floodgates for other music
start-ups, striking similar licensing deals with the major record labels.
It is likely that those licensing tracks from the major labels for their service
will have to charge their subscribers to cover the sound recording licensing
fees, additional publishing licenses and infrastructure costs. MP3.com will
therefore emerge as a music-provider with brand equity and back-end fulfilment
that other Internet companies may use.
You can now compose your own music, but you must conduct someone else's orchestra.
matt@folkdevil.com