[Rumori] How to compete with free?

[Vicki Bennett]

(Apologies if someone posted this already)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3424483.stm
Friday, 23 January, 2004, 17:19 GMT

"Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno to launch musicians' union
By Tim Weber (BBC News Online business editor in Davos)

Rock legends Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno plan to launch on Monday a
musicians' union to help artists stand their ground in the digital age.
The union will be called Mudda, short for "magnificent union of
digitally downloading artists".  "The digital environment will change
the way music is made, and here artists need a voice", Peter Gabriel
told BBC News Online at the World Economic Forum in Davos.  In the age
of digital downloads musicians and the music industry have had to find a
way of giving consumers what they want while securing revenue streams.

Getting control

"Some think that we want to cut out parts of the music business, but
that's not the case," Gabriel said.  He said musicians needed the record
industry, because they were "good at making music and not necessarily
good at marketing".  But musicians should not be the slaves of record
companies either, he said.  "We need a model partnership where every
artist should have a controlling influence in the whole production
process - if they want it."

Artists have already gained more control, Gabriel said.  In the 1970s,
for example, they could not even influence the design of album covers.
Now other things needed to change as well.

How to compete with free?

Gabriel said he could not understand big music stars that advocated free
music downloads while accepting big cheques from record companies at the
same time.  After all, most artists depended on record sales for up to
60% of their income, he said.  Only superstars could afford to give away
their music for free, because they had other opportunities for making
money.  Managing digital rights, Gabriel said, would require some
encryption to ensure a revenue stream, but ultimately the record
industry would have to give the consumer what he wants.

Copyright issues and digital downloading have been high on the agenda at
the World Economic Forum of business and political leaders in Davos.
Peter Gabriel himself was a discussion leader in sessions like "How can
you compete with free".  Apart from being a successful musician, running
his own record studio and the Real World record label, he is also active
in the field of digital downloading.

As one of the founders of OD2, which stands for On Demand Distribution,
he is offering 300,000 songs in MP3 and WMA format and the download
technology to retailers like Freeserve, Tiscali, Wanadoo and Virgin."