tunaman
02-14-08, 04:17 PM
What do you home theater guys think about digital distribution? While posting in another thread I noticed that the word b.i.torrent is banned here as if it is a bad word even though it is a legitimate distribution method for legal software and other large files. When I saw that I immediately detected fear on the part of the people that run this forum. I understand wanting to stop discussion about copying of media. But that is not what I want to talk about. What I want to see discussed is the move to legal digital distribution of movies and music.
I view DVDs as a dead media. They get scratched, they get stolen/borrowed, they are expensive. They are also distributed by organizations that have fewer morals than Compton gangbangers who ta. Why must a filmmaker or musician rely upon Sony, Universal and Paramount to distribute their work on physical media? With digital distribution it allows anybody to bring their work directly to the masses. Evidence? Youtube.
Recently Radiohead and Saul Williams released their albums to the internet. While neither have released their numbers, Radiohead debuted at number 1 on the charts when released on CD. With Radiohead I listened first and paid them $4.00 which is what I felt it was worth minus a CD. With Saul Williams I paid the $5.00 up front. While that doesnt sound like a huge amount of money, realize that 100% of that money goes to the artist themselves where they have full control over the distribution costs. No fuzzy math, no Enron style accounting, no funny business. The money you paid on their websites, minus the credit card fees was 100% revenue to the artist. A lot could be said for that. Would I have paid more for a high end, lossless download? Absolutely. Will I ever pay $16.99 for a CD? The last time I bought a new CD was a Sublime CD in the 90s.
How about movies? The last time I went to a movie theater I paid $14 per ticket to see a comedy. No special effects, no amazing sound effects, no wondrous music. Needless to say I felt ripped off. Would I pay that to see a special effects extravaganza like the Lord of the Rings movies? Absolutely. My home theater system will never be able to rival that of a movie theater. I have heard a lot of rumblings that the megaplex is dead. I can't agree more. The two best movie going experiences I have had occurred in alternative theaters. The first was an outdoors theater where each seat was a reclining lounge chair with a foot rest. They even had doubles for the couples. The second was an indoor theater but instead of seats they had a room full of assorted pillows laying about on the floor. Including ones shaped as chairs. This is how I want to see a movie. Even better if its got an awesome sound system and a HD projector. Netflix has begun offering online rentals and with Apple's Take 2 you can do it as well albeit with a much limited library. The problem with these options is that the movies are only available for 24 hours. Why can't I pay to download the movie to own? Would I if I could? Yes. My friends are all film people working in Los Angeles, I want to support them. I do not want to support the studios though.
The main problem I see is that as an industry the MPAA and RIAA are saying that I am a criminal if I buy a CD or DVD and rip it to my computer for listening and viewing on my terms. Essentially where and when I want to. At the same time, they are refusing to offer a solution to people like myself who don't want to be tied to a physical media. I listen to music on my mp3 player. I listen to it on my home theater system. I listen to it on my computer. I listed to it on my cellphone. I listen to it in my car. According to the RIAA, I need to own 5 CDs to do this. I say, its my CD I can do whatever I want with it, even if it means ripping it to all my devices. Artists like Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) agrees with this consumer centric viewpoint and has rallied against the labels.
The music and movie industry stand in the way of innovation due to their own failure to create new distribution models. The cat is out of the bag and nothing can be done to change that. The RIAA and MPAA's methods are tantamount to trying to herd 100 cats. Its not possible. People will continue to go with low quality free downloads because there is no source for high quality digital downloads. If a high quality digital download was brought into the marketplace I would happily pay for it. Until then, I refuse to support companies that demand we use yesterday's technology.
Yes this is long, but it brings good points that are extremely valid to the theme of these forums. DVD and CD as a media is dead yet the RIAA/MPAA fail to accept this and continually try to force their restrictions on us. Why do we continue to accept this?
I view DVDs as a dead media. They get scratched, they get stolen/borrowed, they are expensive. They are also distributed by organizations that have fewer morals than Compton gangbangers who ta. Why must a filmmaker or musician rely upon Sony, Universal and Paramount to distribute their work on physical media? With digital distribution it allows anybody to bring their work directly to the masses. Evidence? Youtube.
Recently Radiohead and Saul Williams released their albums to the internet. While neither have released their numbers, Radiohead debuted at number 1 on the charts when released on CD. With Radiohead I listened first and paid them $4.00 which is what I felt it was worth minus a CD. With Saul Williams I paid the $5.00 up front. While that doesnt sound like a huge amount of money, realize that 100% of that money goes to the artist themselves where they have full control over the distribution costs. No fuzzy math, no Enron style accounting, no funny business. The money you paid on their websites, minus the credit card fees was 100% revenue to the artist. A lot could be said for that. Would I have paid more for a high end, lossless download? Absolutely. Will I ever pay $16.99 for a CD? The last time I bought a new CD was a Sublime CD in the 90s.
How about movies? The last time I went to a movie theater I paid $14 per ticket to see a comedy. No special effects, no amazing sound effects, no wondrous music. Needless to say I felt ripped off. Would I pay that to see a special effects extravaganza like the Lord of the Rings movies? Absolutely. My home theater system will never be able to rival that of a movie theater. I have heard a lot of rumblings that the megaplex is dead. I can't agree more. The two best movie going experiences I have had occurred in alternative theaters. The first was an outdoors theater where each seat was a reclining lounge chair with a foot rest. They even had doubles for the couples. The second was an indoor theater but instead of seats they had a room full of assorted pillows laying about on the floor. Including ones shaped as chairs. This is how I want to see a movie. Even better if its got an awesome sound system and a HD projector. Netflix has begun offering online rentals and with Apple's Take 2 you can do it as well albeit with a much limited library. The problem with these options is that the movies are only available for 24 hours. Why can't I pay to download the movie to own? Would I if I could? Yes. My friends are all film people working in Los Angeles, I want to support them. I do not want to support the studios though.
The main problem I see is that as an industry the MPAA and RIAA are saying that I am a criminal if I buy a CD or DVD and rip it to my computer for listening and viewing on my terms. Essentially where and when I want to. At the same time, they are refusing to offer a solution to people like myself who don't want to be tied to a physical media. I listen to music on my mp3 player. I listen to it on my home theater system. I listen to it on my computer. I listed to it on my cellphone. I listen to it in my car. According to the RIAA, I need to own 5 CDs to do this. I say, its my CD I can do whatever I want with it, even if it means ripping it to all my devices. Artists like Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) agrees with this consumer centric viewpoint and has rallied against the labels.
The music and movie industry stand in the way of innovation due to their own failure to create new distribution models. The cat is out of the bag and nothing can be done to change that. The RIAA and MPAA's methods are tantamount to trying to herd 100 cats. Its not possible. People will continue to go with low quality free downloads because there is no source for high quality digital downloads. If a high quality digital download was brought into the marketplace I would happily pay for it. Until then, I refuse to support companies that demand we use yesterday's technology.
Yes this is long, but it brings good points that are extremely valid to the theme of these forums. DVD and CD as a media is dead yet the RIAA/MPAA fail to accept this and continually try to force their restrictions on us. Why do we continue to accept this?