MPAA and RIAA Fail To Understand Technology & Consumers


This week the Motion Picture Association of America ripped a page from the recording industry's consumer-hating script. With the help of the FBI and, if you can believe this, Homeland Security, the MPAA shut down BitTorrent site EliteTorrents.org because it was sharing the new Star Wars movie just as it was released in theaters. This is the continuation of a series of disturbing moves from the industries reprsenting movies and music.

Technology is changing the way young consumers watch and buy (when the option is available) movies and music. Those under the age of 30 are accustomed to having immediate gratification and technology has played a large role during their formative years. It only makes sense that they, the largest consumers of popular music and movies, turn to the internet for entertainment. Sadly, the music and movie industries have, for the most part, turned their back on these young consumers and the technologies they've integrated into their lives.

I grew up during the heyday of the Sony Walkman and the boom box. I worked in a record store through high school and college. I was a disc jockey when I was in my early 20s. I can safely say I'm qualified to say music has never been as popular as it is today. Thanks to technology music is omnipresent. We carry our favorite tunes with us. We burn custom CDs. We can listen to the same radio station from coast to coast. We can share a song with a friend halfway across the world. And we can do this easily, immediately and affordably.

The same can be said for the movie industry. Never in my wildest dreams as a child could I have envisioned movies on demand or a cable system with 1,000 channels. I couldn't imagine watching a movie in better quality at my home than I had seen it in the theater. And I certainly wouldn't have believed that one day I'd be able to download and watch a movie on a personal computer. That was too much like something out of a science fiction movie - out of Star Wars, for instance.

And so here we are today in 2005. I can download the new Radiohead CD months before its released. I can watch the last installment of Star Wars within hours of its theatrical release. Technology has made this possible. But archaic laws have made the practice one of the most debated, questioned, discussed and legislated topics of our time.

It is obvious the delivery systems are in place for putting music and movies into the hands of consumers quickly and conveniently. It is obvious the technology is not too difficult to understand and use. It is obvious that even those who prefer new technology to old still go to the theater and still buy recorded music in stores. Yet, somehow the powers that be in the entertainment industry have largely failed to parlay these advances into a cash flow.

Instead, the RIAA and the MPAA fight the inevitable. They fight battles against software, servers and technology that will be replaced by something faster and better minutes after it is shut down. They sue the very consumers who obviously love their product. And sometimes it appears they even participate in the illegal activity.

That's right. File sharing. Torrents. Napster. Limewire. Kazaa. There is strong evidence that those in the industry use the new technologies to champion their causes - good and bad. Madonna created a buzz for her last studio album American Life by seeding files containing messages from her regarding downloading. Consumers expecting to hear new music instead got a lecture. Madonna, in turn, got free publicity that still couldn't help a less-than-stellar album reach platinum status.

The most popular version of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith being traded on torrent networks is a work copy stamped with a time code. One would presume this was only available to someone working close to the studio and the film. Interestingly, the MPAA issues a media release about the movie's availability hours before the film was even released to theaters! Why would they do this if downloading hurts the industry? (Editor's note: Sith is on pace to be the biggest movie of the summer and may surpass the $500 millon mark in the US)

Technological advances will not stop. Consumer habits have already been formed. Downloading is here to stay.

I believe that artists and all those who work on movies and music deserve to be compensated for their creativity and entertainment.

But I also think the burden is on the recording and motion picture industries to meet the demand of the consumers. In fact, it shouldn't be viewed as a burden. With the success of iTunes, new technologies should be looked at as a revenue opportunity. It is a way to reach people who may have otherwise not paid attention to or purchased your product.

Posted: Sat - May 28, 2005 at 12:13 AM      

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