This is me

In college, I majored in Political Science with a concentration in political philosophy. Junior year, I took a class on the politics of technology. The teacher was so far left that I felt like a neo-con. This guy would ride his bike to class everyday when there were students on campus who would drive because they were too lazy to walk from their house (note: not me of course). However, he helped me to understand that when problems occur, they mainly result from technology (click to see the broader definition). Now when attempting to solve a problem, we can take two main paths: technological fix or social engineering.

For me, a technological fix is using technology as a means to temporarily fix instead of  terminating a problem. It’s the RIAA suing people for illegally downloading. It’s the majors having faith in ring tones or digital downloads. It’s the majors hounding YouTube for royalties. In the geo- political realm of things, it’s New Orleans building a levee where a city should never been in the first place.

Whereas social engineering demands drastic social changes on behalf of people instead of using other forms of technology to temporary fix a problem. It should tell the music industry that they need to make money while fulfilling the needs and services of their costumers. In the last ten years, the majors have been treating their consumers as enemies, which is no way to run a business.

Most people don’t want to pay for music, so why charge? This is where we’re at, so wanting the “glory days” to come back, using scare tactics, or the repackaging of music will never sustain steady levels of income.

A concept I have been considering (note:  not the one for which I am writing a business plan) is for the labels to distribute for no cost (ie give away the music for free), but get a small percentage (<5%) of the total income of the artists which includes touring, merchandising, sponsorships, and licensing. It’s not really a 360 deal because they wouldn’t be controlling the artist. They’d be distributing the music and being a liaison between the artist and the third party involved in a licensing opportunity.

This allows the labels to do their jobs as the filter for new music as well ensuring that they pick up change from diverse forms. The artist would be completely free to do what they want when they want. ALSO, consumer demands of free music would be met.

I’d have to go over the financial accounting of this proposal, but in theory it sounds a lot more like social engineer than a technological fix.