jk Causes Trouble

I've often mentioned how much I enjoy the quality of Samizdata's commenters (Perry calls them "The Commentariat"). They're a bright and articulate lot and for such a large community have very few trolls.

A post about allofmp3.com caught me eye: "The Future of the Music Business is Here". The poster and first comments were praising this Russian MP3 site for its good front-end, pricing structure, &c.

I commented that "I hate to ruin the party but..." I thought Samizdats in general would be extra sensitive to property rights. And that, as this is not sanctioned by the RIAA, it is likely stealing music, even though you pay ~0.12/track. Thanks to the time zone difference, I went to bed to find the discussion thread taken in many directions, including the Russian Mafia (makes me think of "Blues Brothers 2000), the validity of copyrights, the state's function in preserving intellectual property. Very good stuff

Enough chatter that Perry DeHavilland created a second post directed exclusively toward the property rights issue.

In fact I would say that notion is exactly the wrong way around. Like it or not, music is now a commodity that is traded by weight in an international market and therefore the creator has only residual rights to how that commodity is subsequently resold. The model allofmp3 uses does indeed pay something to the creators of the music and refusing to acknowledge that things have changed and that recorded music is no long a physical good is pointless.

I strongly disagree. Because consumers wish to set their own price does not mean that the producers have to accede. One comment asserts three different ways he will buy music (attend gigs, donate to buskers, donate on your site where you offer free mp3s) and that’s certainly his right. But it is the right of the music producers to tell him whether that model will be honored for a specific artist.

The comparison to resale does not hold because a music sale is a incense to use. Purchasing one of my CDs does not give you rights to rerecord Hoagy Carmichael tunes or to resell my versions on a Russian Web site.

Lastly, he makes a funny point comparing the Russian Mafia to government.

I would say even if it was true that allofmp3 is paying 'protection' to the Russian Mafia and/or using their political influence to shield their business model, the Russian Mafia fulfils certain roles that in other countries are filled by governments and lobbyists to much the same effect, thus I am not sure it makes a company like allofmp3 any different to a company (say Sony) using the force of the state to enforce its business model.

There is really not that much difference and if you do not believe me, I suggest you try telling the state you no longer wish to follow their regulations and wish to make your own arrangements for 'protection' and therefore intend to withhold a portion of your taxes... and then see what happens to you.

Clever, but we still get to vote on our government, flawed though the process may be, and as I recall from Blues Brothers 2000, nobody gets to vote on the Russian Mafia.

By opposing allofmpo3.com on property rights grounds, I was lumped in with the RIAA as unwilling to embrace new business models. Anybody who’s ever read ThreeSources will know that to be untrue. I wrote about eMusic.com on the Berkeley Square Blog in July of 2003 that "Supporting a legal distribution method might bring Schumpeterian-gales of reform to the big-bad music Industry."

I'm all for hating "Big Music" and I am all for mp3 models. But they have to have the acceptance of buyer and seller -- as many sites do -- before I will embrace them

Posted by jk at January 7, 2006 12:59 PM