Outwitting music pirates
Music industry players have decided to embrace the "digital age" in order to benefit from the online industry which is dominated by pirates.
World Music Expo general director Gerald Seligman told delegates to the Moshito music conference yesterday that about 95% of the downloading of music was being done "without a penny exchanging hands".
He said the new trend whereby the public downloads music dictated terms and artists, record labels and distributors were the losers in the process.
According to ringtonia.com, pirates cost the music industry $1m a day. "It costs the industry billions of dollars," said Seligman. There was a "growing consensus" among people in the industry that intellectual property rights holders needed to unite in approaching digital distributors, internet and mobile service providers, he said.
"Our partners are no longer distributors and retail shops. Our partners are now internet service providers, mobile service providers and digital distributors."
The industry should negotiate with the new partners through one or two parties, representing performers and publishers.
He said the new digital environment required more creativity for rights holders to offer the market what pirates cannot.
The new partners would need more material, greater availability, special offers, value-added features, demos, live footage, special interviews and performances.
The licensing process should be "vastly" simplified and the licence be easily accessible. "We must have a ‘feels like free’ subscription; not charge for each track but charge the person once a month."
Once that was in place, fees would be distributed by collecting societies.
"Collecting societies must be enhanced where they exist and create new ones where they don’t exist."
Unclaimed royalties could be used to create collecting societies worldwide through education, outreach, investment and infrastructure.
There was also a feeling that consumers should be charged "at point of entry" to the site. These fees would then be passed on to right holders.
"This is controversial as it may have to be legislated by government," he said. "This would mean people not downloading music would have to pay for a service they don’t use."
The suggestions were welcomed by most delegates, but they agreed the CD selling business was not "dead" yet.
Eugene Mthethwa of the Black Agenda Forum and member of kwaito group Trompies said artists should offer more than just tracks in their albums in order to compete with pirates.
"The CD must also include a video and pictures (photographs)."
Mthethwa was also part of a panel that discussed needle time legislation, dealing with the payment of artists when their songs are used.
The law even allows guitarists, drummers and everyone involved in the creation of a song to get paid every time it receives airplay.
He said there should be a single collecting society for the industry.
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