Tom Bradley

The Music Industry: Lessons to be learned by Impact of Digital In the physical world, record companies = book publishers (create, manufacture and distribute product). Only licensed secondary rights eg K.Tel In the physical world, retailers mainly specialists record and book shops (in the same business) Danger of increased reliance on supermarkets in the physical world eg Tesco in the UK Piracy absorbed into the business model eg home taping, counterfeiting

Lost control and influence over Distribution Digital distributors not in the music business (unlike vested interest of bookshops iTunes model not good for the industry (Apple only interested in selling ipods etc) (pricing per track, album sales undermined) Tesco now squeezing margins on physical product as record shops disappear (? Amazon?)

Easy access to repertoire Record companies slow to embrace digital (uncooperative, direct licensing, slow and difficult due to Fragmentation) Napster lost opportunity? (BMG sued by peers) Lower price for increased volumes online (fundamentally different model) Possibility of parallel markets for physical CD’s and online tracks (not same consumers) Failed to offer a real alternative to the general public (but inexperienced in B to C) Unsatisfied demand for the unavailable – deletions (P2P danger)

Enforcing Copyright Major problem (music in public domain) – “free” on radio Need to monitor the market in order to protect it No one company is big enough/trade association suing individuals led to negative publicity P2P file-sharing and illegal Torrent sites – industry in re- active mode therefore sheer scale of piracy overwhelming Cultural expectation that on-line products will be cheaper

–Control over distribution –Easy access to repertoire –Enforcing copyright Music industry failed to deal with these problems by not taking a collective/industry approach Other industries – airlines (booking systems) - banks (hole in the wall) Google is not the ultimate threat (can talk and negotiate); P2P Summary – 3 major concerns

Need a collective solution: –Industry database real/virtual –Industry portal to facilitate easy access and transactional licensing –Tracking technology to monitor the marketplace/identify infringements – licence –Work with ISP’s, not against them – look for ‘added value’ Similar scenarios for this industry

To be effective, industry solution needs potential global reach Need to work together on a co-operative basis across borders Still possible to compete within a collective infrastructure Primary and secondary rights blurred in digital world

Sheer volume of online activity makes it difficult to regulate secondary copying Direct licensing (non-collective) and collective licensing needs to work together (as it has over the past 25/30 years in the physical world) Digital world has more complicated structures and needs investment for sophisticated solutions Rightsowners need the same protection – but also a menu of other collective services (avoid disenfranchised)

“The answer to the machine is inside the machine” Charles Clark