Media in the New Millennium

posted by Doyle

OK, they’re not all annoyances. But I liked that headline.

So here’s the story. Although they’ve since been told by a federal judge they were full of it, the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) recently tried to say that if one’s cell phone rings — and the ringtone is a recording of a copyrighted song — it’s a public performance and it’s members deserve compensation.

In a word: bullshit.

ASCAP was suing AT&T and Verizon in an effort to raise more revenue for it’s members, but to call this move a stretch is an insult to stretches everywhere.

My point here is not simply to pick on ASCAP. Really.

My point is we’re in a world that’s changing faster than anything we’ve ever seen, especially when it comes to entertainment options, which are now digital and expanding to new devices (like cell phones) at light speed. As a content creator myself, I believe in compensation for those who create. I think piracy is wrong, and I think groups like ASCAP should defend the rights of their members and ensure they are fairly compensated for the use of their creations.

However, I don’t think they should be ridiculous, bordering on stupid.

Things like ringtones are the 2009 version of sampling. How far would ASCAP have gotten in 1979 going after Panasonic for royalties that might be due because I took an album to a party and played it for my friends? After all, I paid for the album — but I played it for my friends. Horror! In reality, many of my friends probably purchased the same album after hearing it at the party. It was an ecosystem that evolved more slowly than today’s, so it made sense, and everyone — including music industry executives — seemed to be able to keep up. Today, it’s just plain moving too fast for too many — but I believe it is their responsibility and, in fact, their job, to keep up.

Consider: A recent UK poll showed illegal file sharers buy much more music than those that don’t share files. It appears that they’re “sampling” lots of music and, in the end, buying lots of music they like. Kind of like listening to the radio in 1977! This isn’t new news, as this 2005 article from The Guardian confirms.

Companies and organizations need to be slower to sue and quicker to embrace new business models and figure out how they can make more money — for themselves and the talent that creates the content they represent. Where would we be if the makers of buggy whips had continued to simply sue the auto industry rather than evolve into makers of brake pads?

All that said, please don’t make “Baby Got Back” your ringtone while setting your phone to ring on a 10!