Democrats lost opportunity, money by squashing technology
    by Houston Wade

What were they thinking? Was whoring themselves out to their largest donors really that important? Is it because the Republicans do it with
almost every major corporation that slings funds their way? It seems the Democrats figured that by squashing any and all technologies that
allow for the easy access and transfer of information in the media they were doing their contributors a big favor. It makes me sick, because
while they may be doing the bidding of those that pay for their campaigns they are screwing over the vary people that elected them to
their positions in government.

Remember Napster? Of course you do, you are all college students. Napster is what you did instead of studying and on nights when you just
could not get laid. Napster was just a brilliant idea that I still cannot, for the life of me, figure out how it was profitable. Anyone anywhere
could find just about any song he or she wanted, download it and have themselves a listen. It was the one bright spot in a decade of a lifeless
pop music culture. Napster and others like it were what fueled a number of industries from portable MP3 players to the demand for broadband
Internet access that was the infrastructure the “New Economy” was to be based upon. All this, the Democrats in congress ruined because
their largest contributors reside in Hollywood.

It is not even as if the artist themselves actually care about massive proliferation of their music on the Internet (with the exception being
Metallica; those guys are tools for their corporate overlords—Lars, I hate you). What money artists generally gross arise from tours; their
cut from album sales are disgustingly small. This is because the big producers are out to screw them over and will, at anytime, drop them
for a “new sound.” The New York Times reported that an artist who racks up $17 million in album sales might keep $70,000 of it.
In Hollywood it is the producers whose interests lie in stopping fans from enjoying music that hurt the most.

The producers, record labels, their lobbyists and Democrats like Senator Joseph Biden and Rep. Howard Berman have been on an all out
assault on mediums which record and/or distribute media like music, TV shows and movies. The music industry is claiming that their 15%
drop in sales in the last two years is a result of companies like Napster and its followers “stealing” its bread and butter. This is a bunch of bunk.
If anything Napster was doing its part to save a dumpy record industry by exposing people to good music from past and present performers;
many of whom later purchased the albums or attended live performances they otherwise would have never known about.

The record industry is hurting not because of free music trading but because they have no descent products to offer in an age when those in
the 12-30 demographic have the option of buying video games, DVDs and other forms of electronic entertainment instead. Music on the radio
just hurts to listen to.

If any money is going to be made Hollywood has to confront the big media oligarchies that control much of what we watch and hear. If every
radio station and MTV play the same 2 or 3 singles from the same 20 artists all across the country then the record industry will have only
20 various albums that will do well in sales at any given time. There is a lot of talent out there, but those without much talent are making
it to the top for one good run, with one bad album, and then are replaced by the next bad thing. Good talent will never get the exposure
it deserves if corporations like Clear Channel (who owns some 1,500+ radio and television stations nation-wide) turn every radio station
they buy into “cookie cutter” entities. Stations that have the same play list no matter what the market and often fire local DJ talent in
lieu of nationally syndicated programs.  If there is no local media involvement in the local music scenes across the country real talent
will never get the base exposure it needs to be to become the groundswell that will save the record industry.

The funny thing is… If the Democrats were truly smart they would try to appeal to the hi-tech sector on this front. It is by far, more wealthy
and has the opportunity to revolutionize the way we do business. What the hell does Hollywood have to offer? Another two-star film and yet
another crappy, holier-than-thou album from Creed? Give me a break.

One would think that Hollywood would have learned not to fight for the status quo when it comes to the introduction of revolutionary
technology in its medium. Hollywood fought against the proliferation of VCRs and lost in the Supreme Court’s legendary 1984 Betamax decision.
Hollywood was afraid that people were going to steal and distribute their product and that it would hurt their business. It turns out that
this was the greatest thing to happen to Hollywood since the golden age of the studios. Hollywood was able to revive a faltering movie market
that was steadily losing its audience to television since the 1950s by signing deals with video rental companies like Blockbuster. The gross
earnings from video sales now account for more than $16 billion annually—almost double box office receipts (the porn industry got an
even bigger boost out of this decision).

Some figure that the boon to the economy that products similar to older VCRs (but far more up-to-date) would be enough to bring us out of
recession. The potential dollar figure for the US economy from companies similar to Napster (which is no more), KaZaA, Tivo, Replay
TV, broadband Internet providers and other access-on-demand media technologies would be over $500 billion annually. I think that
Democratic Party could stand to lose a few slick producers and record label assholes and gain a vastly wealthy Silicon Valley as donor base.
Plus, if it is easier to access music files Hollywood may seem fit to slash the outlandishly high prices of albums from $17.99 to a more
reasonable $9.99 (after all, black market enterprises like Napster spring up when the cost of the legitimate product is too high).
Heck, it would be my guess that if they did that now they could double album sales inside of a year.


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