Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

I wrote about the whole collapse of the traditional large media companies.  I firmly believe that even though they're slowly coming to terms with the notion and some benefits of online distribution, they still refuse to relinquish control of their hegemony.  Of course, it's doubtful they'll ever permanently disappear the way most of us hope (more strikes in Hollywood, PLEASE!!!!!!!!), but they might end up becoming just a minor player in the end.

However, what needs to happen for legitimized sales for these firms to succeed in the digital/online age and to retain any remaining respect people might have for them is that they must re-price all media and remove any international barriers for distribution.  Truthfully, anything digital that does some stupid geotagging trick needs to halt (minus security due to obvious reasons from the US).  If AllOfMp3.com taught us anything it's  that you can sell digital music cheap and people will be willing to purchase massive quantities.  So the problem has never been people's lack of desire to pay for media, it's been the price.

Here's my suggestion to the music and movie studios for pricing:

Any recent top 40 hit: $0.30
Any music song older than 2-3 years:  $0.06
Independent songs: $0.02

Any recent movie: $1
Any movie older than 2-3 years: $0.50
Independent movies: $0.20

Since all of this is digital, the cost of manufacturing should be nearly non-existent.  The most cost will be storage and bandwidth.  But if these infrastructure companies did the right thing and focused on 10gb/sec lines, we can further bring down the cost of bandwidth while storage continues to grow.

The industries may think that they're losing out in terms of the kind of money they want to make.  Well, first, most people in the industry, especially directors, producers and actors make far too much money that is hard to justify these days.  This does imply a huge loss of jobs for people in charge of manufacturing the DVDs, CDs, etc.  But truthfully this ought to be more environment friendly.  Think about the materials and energy saved.  This is immensely better for the atmosphere.  Most of the selling point would end being marketing material (advertisement, commercials, images).  Next because the cost of downloading a song or movie would be so cheap, more people would be likely to make a purchase as opposed to the risk of being sued.  Add the removal of enforced geotagging and international boundaries, you increase your market share in the globalized/internet environment.

I'm certain the Britney Spears, Metallicas, etc. will go crying about not having enough money to feed their kids.  If these people go bankrupt because they lived in excess, then who cares?  I refuse to buy the argument from a guy like the person from STP who said something like, "Well, we'll stop producing music!"  Well, if you feel that you can't make a living in terms of having a huge mansion in the Hollywood hills, tough shit.  Real artists who have a true passion for their craft will replace you (thankfully) and create things that aren't generated from the boring board room.  A true artist in the end will not care about the monetary compensation to create their art.  If they have any passion for their craft, they will do it for the love of it and be rewarded by their supporters.

If Hollywood thinks that they are obligated to get back XXX amount of cash for spending a ridiculous sum on stars, producers and directors' salaries as well as for distracting and wasteful special effects, then they're full of shit.  I don't need a lot of special effects to enjoy a good movie.  I've seen great movies produced for under $10000 that I'm willing to purchase as opposed to the hundreds of millions of wasted dollars on CGI.

If these so-called artists feel that their cocaine supply is running too low, then tough shit.  I can't feel sympathy for these people who ended up wasting their money on excess and yet find fault with the public, who support them spiritually for their artistic abilities, but not their excessive lifestyles.  It's a shame that such people squandered the hard earned money of the public on their degenerative, decadent lifestyles and yet cry that they aren't going to get paid more because they fucked themselves up so badly, created a horrible public image of themselves and continue to cry because their past achievements are far better than what they can now create in their sad form.

And for independent artists who think their margins are too low, think about this.  Yes, you probably won't be able to live like the glory years of bands like Motley Crue, Ratt, Britney Spears, etc.  Then again, do you want to fuck your lives up so badly by losing your privacy, losing your dignity, losing your sense of identity and being controlled by this media machine just because you want this distorted image of materialistic reality?  Do you want to take a shotgun and blow your face off like Kurt Cobain because now you've earned money to take an infinite mount of heroine?  Do you want to be like Michael Jackson, a freak of nature who got famous at a young age, but now faces looming bankruptcy, notoriety from his pedophile inhibitions and will be forever scarred with the numerous plastic surgeries?  Do you want to be scoffed at like Lars Ulrich of Metallica, known as someone who turned on the public, the people that supported him and his band for their rebellious music, only to show his true image once success was presented to him and demonstrating that all he is at the heart is just a snobby little asshole?  Do you want to be like Paris Hilton, who, if it weren't for her parents, would be working at a nightclub for $10 tips?  These are the people that the government is protecting, the industry is shoving down our throats as "artists" and are ruining the way America is being run by saying that gee, that $10+ million I need for my next private jet isn't enough and I demand more in the digital downloads, thus raping the average joe going through a subprime housing recession is going to face.  If you want to join that crew, go ahead.  But you won't get any self-respect in the end.

Going back to pricing.  The thing is that digital formats mean the supply is now endless as long as the barriers of control are lifted and made affordable.  I believe that most people want to make their own collections of music legitimized and something that they are proud of truly owning.  Taking the risk of lowering the price would be a huge step in the right direction for these large industries.  The first group that takes it will be decades ahead of the rest and will be praised as leaders of the media revolution for having the sense and humanity as well as recognizing the true value of the digital world.