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ANARCHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND THE COMMUNICATION OF ARTISTIC VISION
What disadvantages, other than inefficiency, does the predominant system of digital popular music distribution (i.e. sale of copyrights to mass distributors) produce? Below, I do not attempt to fully answer this question. Yet, I do conclude that the predominant system prevents the communication of at least part of popular musicians’ artistic vision. | | | Dilution of Artistic Message: ITunes's Alternative Distribution Structures
ITunes generally makes derivations from its default structure when an album contains less than 10 tracks. If the structure remained the same, the $9.99 album price would then be greater than the combined cost of each song. This would cause album buyers to simply buy each song separately, making the album price useless. | |
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< | ITunes picks one of two solutions to this dilemma based on what it sees as the most profitable. One method is to sell the album for $9.99 and make a single track “Album Only,” meaning that this track cannot be downloaded individually. The other solution is to allow each song to be downloaded individually and then lower the album price to reflect the sum price of the songs. Presumably, ITunes chooses the “Album Only” solution when it thinks the profit from those who download the non-“Album Only” tracks plus the profit from album-lovers who are willing to pay $9.99 will outweigh the profit from selling all tracks individually and charging album-buyers the sum price of songs. See Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, and Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited. In turn, ITunes applies the other solution when it thinks the “Album Only” method will produce a relatively unprofitable result. See Buddy Guy, Stone Crazy, and Talking Heads, Remain in Light.
Predictably, the lower-album-price structure creates the same miscommunications of integration that the default structure does. For its part, the “Album Only” structure communicates that the album and every song, except the “Album Only” song, is a separate artistic vision. Yet, in order to gain maximum profitability, ITunes will pick which song to make “Album Only” based on which is the least likely to be downloaded individually, not based on whether or not the song needs to be understood in the context of the album. For instance, if any song on Highway 61 Revisited can be heard as a distinct artistic vision, it is “Desolation Row,” an acoustic exception to the heavily electric set. Yet, ITunes makes this song “Album Only.” | >
> | ITunes picks one of two solutions to this dilemma based on what it sees as the most profitable. One method is to sell the album for $9.99 and make a single track “Album Only,” meaning that this track cannot be downloaded individually. The other solution is to allow each song to be downloaded individually and then lower the album price to reflect the sum price of the songs. Presumably, ITunes chooses the “Album Only” solution when it thinks the profit from those who download the non-“Album Only” tracks plus the profit from album-lovers who are willing to pay $9.99 will outweigh the profit from selling all tracks individually and charging album-buyers the sum price of songs. See Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, and Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited. In turn, ITunes applies the other solution when it thinks the “Album Only” method will produce a relatively unprofitable result. See Buddy Guy, Stone Crazy, and Talking Heads, Remain in Light.
Predictably, the lower-album-price structure creates the same miscommunications of integration that the default structure does. For its part, the “Album Only” structure communicates that the album and every song, except the “Album Only” song, is a separate artistic vision. Yet, in order to gain maximum profitability, ITunes will pick which song to make “Album Only” based on which is the least likely to be downloaded individually, not based on whether or not the song needs to be understood in the context of the album. For instance, if any song on Highway 61 Revisited can be heard as a distinct artistic vision, it is “Desolation Row,” an acoustic exception to the heavily electric set. Yet, ITunes makes this song “Album Only.” | | |
Conclusion |
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