SO....a while back, Monty Python put all of their work up on Youtube so everyone could watch it for free. Since then, sales of their dvds have gone up 23,000%. Article about it is here if you're interested. I read about this just a few hours after I watched Neil Gaiman talk about why he was cool with people pirating his writing online. That is here, if you're interested. Good video and Neil has a very hot voice.
Anyway, so in both cases, one finds proof that putting things online for free in no way harmed the sale of the works. In fact, just the opposite is true. We find that both with Monty Python and Gaiman, their sales showed vast increase, despite the free access. And why is this, you may ask, how can this be after countless others have screamed and whined and moaned and gnashed their teeth about how piracy is draining money from artists?
Gaiman makes a good point as to the why of this. He talked about how and why people get exposed to certain aspects of media. He would invite his audience members to think about how they found their favorite author and noticed a trend. Most of us tend to find our favorite things, authors, musicians, movies, through exposure from others.
I know this has been the case for me. I can't even count how many of my favorites happen to BE that due to friends. I can also tell you that for all of the mix tapes and borrowed comics and whatnot, of the things I really loved, I bought my own copies. I needed to have them with me, close to my person, so any time I needed to experience them again, I could.
And in an economy where people don't have a lot of money to spare on things like books and music, having someone give you a sample of it before you make the purchase is quite helpful. If you're having to decide if you want to have a new dvd or, say for instance, gas for your car, you're going to opt for the car if you know nothing about the dvd in question.
However, if you got to watch a good selection of said movie online? You may know it's special enough to give up driving your car for a few days.
So this is the conclusion I've reached about this, and it's shitty, but oh so true. There are people who suffer from online piracy and things being posted for free. There are people who see a vast cut in their sales and feel used and taken advantage of . . . these are the people who just really aren't that good.
Yes, there. I've said it. The people who suffer from piracy are the ones who will only make money if you're tricked into buying what they are selling without prior exposure to the work. These are the people who want to lure you in and trick you into buying their mediocre novel or lackluster fail of an album knowing full well it sucks but that once you've bought it, they still get the proceeds. Sure, you'll never buy their stuff again. Their offering of fail will take up space on your shelves until you sell it to a resale shop or something. But they still got their money.
Look, I am in no way encouraging people TO pirate the work of others. While it may work quite well for Python to put their stuff on Youtube for free, the big bad evil record company drones and those other shades of drone who run other media still see this as illegal.
However, as an artist, there might be other ways to look at the issue. When it gets down to it, intellectual property has its merits, but piracy and whatnot are really the best form of free advertising you're going to get. If you are GOOD, you will still make money because people will STILL want to buy what you're selling. And if you don't make money . . . maybe you should rethink you're career choices.
Or, you know, find a way not to suck so much.
I've been using the word "suck" a lot lately. Must have something to do with Valentine's Day. OH, and it's midnight. Happy Valentine's Day, darlings. Hope you get what you want.
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