Recommended Journals #2 'Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services'

In the second of this new series, another Journal with an entire special issue is recommended to ease blog readers into this way of reading up on music piracy research.

The Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services is an excellent resource, who (as promised) have a special issue 'The future of music retailing'. Published in early 2011, this issue is still one of the most important publications I have come across which is notable for its use of qualitative methodology and general multidisciplinary approach (both lacking across the board).

A really accessible read, this one will really get you thinking about where we are, how we got here and more importantly, where we are going.

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International Federation of the Phonographic Industry 'Views'

Updated every month or so, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) website has an excellent 'Views' section with contributions from everyone from the RIAA to managers of bands like U2 (and a few months ago, me!).

Often posing more questions than answering them, these little nuggets are a breath of fresh air and are well worth checking out.

Note, links open as PDF documents so you will need Adobe Reader to view the files. They also open in a new window.

Check it out here.

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Keep a hold of your CD's: Is it worth it?

You always get retro. People always look backwards, especially with technology. There will always be a nostalgia for old formats of whatever it is.

CD's SHOULD be no exception.

They have dominated the music market for far longer than the 10-year life cycle of previous formats and still offer great quality music, compact storage utility with artwork, liner notes etc and in some instances, supplemental content like music videos or even original multi-track files to remix your own versions of songs.

I like CD's.

But, it's hard to compete with digital music on many fronts, where the reduced cost of manufacturing and distribution is perhaps its best advantage. It also trumps on storage utility and general convenience, which is what the consumer is always after.

I don't think there's any question that the future of the music industry is digital.

In the last few years, the volume of CD re-issues, re-masters, deluxe boxed-sets etc feels like the last act of a dying man in a way, capitalising on the current generation of CD lovers' preference to hold their music.This is most likely the case, and you can't blame the move. Don't want it? Don't buy it.

I do feel though that tangible special edition versions of albums will find a place in the future, with increased personalisation through technology ultimately adding value to such relics.

In the future, there will be options.

For now, keep a hold of your CD's. You never know. They might be worth something in the near future.

At the moment, a casual glance on a leading trade-in service in the UK shows sums of approximately 20-30p for CD's and DVD's. Hardly worth the hassle.

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Recommended books #4

Some more titles I have stumbled upon recently.

Elkin-Koren, N. and Salzberger, E.M. (2013). The Law and Economics of Intellectual Property in the Digital Age. Routledge: New York.

This title benefits from being recent, and goes into some depth over SOPA and the likes. It also critiques research from law and economics.

Bently, L., Davis, J. and Ginsburg, J.C. (2010). Copyright and Piracy: An Interdisciplinary Critique. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

I got alot out of this book. With distinct sub-chapters from different authors, it's easy to dip into what is most interesting to you where the book ends on a high with chapters going into depth on piracy in Jamaica. It also raises interesting questions throughout, with criticism over how well equipped criminologists are at studying piracy.

Both well worth a read.

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Is music ownership dead?

Considering the rise in the popularity of vinyl, it's a hard one to call.

A good place to start thinking about this seriously is a look at Wikstrom's (2012) paper (linked here). You might recognise the name from one of the recommended books on this blog, his 2009 title 'The Music Industry: Music in the Cloud' (second edition due later this year).

In his 2012 paper, Wikstrom introduces three distinct music distribution models:

Ownership

Access

Context

He explains that the music industry is moving away from ownership models to context models, citing recent examples of enterprising artists who do things differently to give fans room to 'do things' and not simply consume. 

The article calls to mind 'Artist autonomy in a digital era: The case of Nine Inch Nails' (Brown, 2011) which was explored in some depth on this blog, exploring how to 'increase the value' of music.

With the rise of broadband penetration, smartphones (including all-you-can-eat data), cloud storage and subscription services, the concept of music ownership is indeed one which is changing.

Who knows where we will end up.

It's an interesting though, given the recent debate surrounding Spotify as a weak business model for new artists.

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References

Brown, S.C. (2011). Artist autonomy in a digital era: The case of Nine Inch Nails. Empirical Musicology Review, 6(4), 198-213

Wikstrom, P. (2009). The Music Industry: Music in the Cloud. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Wikstrom, P. (2012). A Typology of Music Distribution Models. International Journal of Music Business Research, 1(1), 7-20.

[In response to] Atoms for Peace Vs. Spotify

The past 24 hours have been interesting, but hopefully not as interesting as what is likely to follow.

Essentially, bands we know and love affiliated with Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich (of Radiohead fame) have actively removed their music from music subscription service Spotify.

The best run down of events can be found over on NME.

Now, I don't know too much about the revenue artists make from these services. Mostly, because musicians don't talk money very often. That is why I am so excited to see Thom and Nigel discussing this.

As Godrich explains, Spotify can benefit musicians with an established back catalogue. He argues that it is not likely to help new artists, though. And it is on this point that I would like to make my point.

As I have discussed in both a previous blog entry a year ago and in more depth recently over on the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry website,  an artists 'stage-in-the-game' now largely determines the best way for them to distribute their music. There is no one set way of doing things anymore.

Thom and Nigel may or may not be absolutely spot on, but I applaud them for having the balls to speak up about this. Their observation of 'old bands' and 'new bands' I think is an important one, and one that deserves more mainstream attention.

For now, hop on over to the links above to be enlightened by some music piracy research; which expands on this distinction.

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Recommended journals #1 'Information Economics and Policy'

With some recent blog posts straying away from the aim of this blog on music piracy research, this entry represents the first in a new series which rests alongside the popular 'Recommended books' entries.

Let's first of all get right back to basics and explore exactly what a journal is (in case you are unfamiliar).

A journal is a periodical publication which used to be primarily in print form, but now often includes digital versions (and digital only in some instances). Different authors publish articles in these journals, which are reviewed by an editorial board. With quality control therefore paramount (to all concerned), journals represent an excellent resource for research findings with the additional benefit of often being published much quicker than as a book. This is of particular value with digital piracy as it is a fast moving area overall.

Articles are not always as readable as books, but are worth soliciting if you are really keen to read up on the latest and greatest music piracy research.

A good place to start is Information Economics and Policy. Not only are 2 of the 3 most downloaded articles specifically related to digital piracy, but they have two special issues of particular interest. The December 2010 issue 'Special Issue: Digital Piracy' features 11 articles and the February 2012 issue 'The economics of digital media markets' features 8.

Consider these special issues as great little books.

And all great little books, they deserve a good little read!

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