A VC - Latest Comments in Streaming Kills Piracy

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

Matías Attwell — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:12:44 -0000

And when we get better streaming music services, we can be saved from really bad ideas born out of wrong concepts like www.apriceformusic.com/

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

GrishaRemake — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:21:23 -0000

Thanks for the link Cathleen.
"The brainchild of a 16-year-old Aussie - iZaRia allows entirely free downloads of all its music, legally allowing you to own all your favourite songs without paying a cent."
Another Teen Rebel.
Ahoy !

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

dudeeriest — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:09:07 -0000

Yeah, well, if greedy producers start charging way less, then maybe. And maybe if the minimum wage becomes decent too so that we can afford these things. Not all of us are software engineers at Microsoft, ya' know?

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

steveschildwachter — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:24:25 -0000

Dear Fred: This was a thoughtful post and I am glad your son did the right thing, regardless of his motivation. I am sure you and GothamGal are great parents. I would quibble just a bit with the conclusion that we can untrain our children to steal. It seems if the trend you've identified holds true, users of any age are merely pursuing their entertainment by any means necessary, and if it is convenient again in the future to do so illegally, they would. In any case, I really enjoy your tweets and your blog and will continue to read them! -- SteveS1, Chicago, Illinois

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

fredwilson — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:01:10 -0000

Its true that the labels are finally coming to the conclusion that streaming is an important business model for them. But its taken them so long to get there

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

Matthew Quint — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:07:29 -0000

I've enjoyed both the post and the comments here. Thanks, Fred & fans.

I am personally a fan of Rhapsody (for 4 years now) and its mixed capabilities of online streaming and DRM-based unlimited file transfers to licensed mp3 devices. As a NYC resident who often listens to music in the subway, I am thrilled to be able to pay $15/mo. to drag nearly any song I want from Rhapsody's 6 million song library onto my Creative Zen.

This article from the New York Times in May is also interesting in light of the finance/licensing comments:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/technology/start-ups/28music.html. It appears that the labels are in fact easing the financial burdens on streaming services in the hopes that a robust business model will develop that challenges (illegal) peer-to-peer file downloads.

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

fredwilson — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:52:32 -0000

Thanks. I'll check it out

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

fredwilson — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:52:30 -0000

Yup. I totally agree

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

GrishaRemake — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:59:09 -0000

I love your blog Fred and I learn a lot from you and AVC community.

But let me disagree with you that technical solution (streaming, pre-roll advertising and so on) could solve the problem of teen’s “piracy”.

I am a teacher. I work with teenagers and what I hate about “piracy = stealing” campaign is that entertainment industry treats teenagers as a cash cow with unlimited money supply.

In reality, teenagers don’t have money. They have weekly allowances from parents.

For example: You are teenager and you have $20 for your weekly entertainment.
For that amount of money you can go to the movie with you friends or buy CD/DVD and stay at home.
Or you can go to the movie and download CD/DVD for free.
What would you choose?

TV/Radio advertising model, when ads attached to content, is no good for Internet.

The solution is to separate advertising from content and create Advertising Market online.

Teenagers can go online and earn extra money (credits) watching ads, taking part in research and so on.
It must be a real work, something like – watch three video adverts, rate them, explain your rating and get 30 credits for that.
Then teens can go on iTunes or Amazon and spend their hard earned credits on music or movies.

That should solve the “piracy” problem.

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

adwhore — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:23:45 -0000

Heard about a band. Downloaded their stuff from bit torrent. Loved it. Shared with 10 friends. They all liked. Band came to town. Tickets were $30 each. 11 people went. $330 spent. I have seen them twice. Bought merchandise. Havent paid a dime for a file or a stream. Why would I?

That "pirated" download probably made the band more money than me taking a chance and paying for a disc or download (wouldn't have done it), which I would have shared with those 10 people anyway.

I have a problem here with the "piracy" and "stealing" crap. Metallica got signed only because they gave away their music, then had the nerve to cry about piracy while they bought and sold million-dollar paintings. As someone said in another comment, the only artists being protected are the ones already "making it".

When we're truly living in a cloud with every mp3 ever recorded, then fine - this discussion makes sense. Until that day, in the end, the artist is getting screwed by someone, and making technology the boogeyman is just a pointless exercise. The only thing to stop it is a fascist state who locks up technology.

Art is not a commodity. If its hollywood crap, then fine - call it stealing. If it's art, call it sharing. That's cultural value - not monetary value. If an artist falls for the "piracy" con job, then they should re-think why they make art in the first place. Sure - an artist deserves to make a living on art. Certainly they deserve it a lot more than the labels and other vultures who suck off of them. That's why the piracy argument is for the labels - not the artist. Streaming, downloaded, or dropped out of the sky from planes down your chimney - the artist is still getting jacked.

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

ravisohal — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:51:51 -0000

I think many people are beginning to look at media like music, news, movies as "rightful data." That is, they have the right to this data set and the providers have to figure out how to get consumers their data/media as fast and conveniently as possible. And content providers will need to build monetization models around consumer needs. So if you can improve the consumer access experience like Netflix/Hulu are doing - make it instant, and (almost) anywhere available, I think the driving force behind illegal downloads will be a lot less potent and revenue streams will start to sort themselves out.

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

fredwilson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:55:25 -0000

Streaming is convenient. Its instant gratification. And people will pay for it. If you have to download and wait, you might be tempted to go the free route (aka piracy)

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

adwhore — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:04:12 -0000

kidmercury nailed it. If it's streaming or or downloading, it's still someone sharing content. Aren't we faced with the same conundrum? You still need a model of ad support or pay-per-stream, just like pay-per download on iTunes. It's a workable model, but I see no huge difference between the two. If I burn a disc for you, or if I stream an mp3 from my server for 100,000 people to check out, is it now piracy? It's the same thing, whether you call it piracy or sharing, and that's what the internet is all about.

I can post a file to my server and you can stream it through a browser. The copyright is for what is going into your ears. It's not the file itself. Someone is still sharing and someone is still consuming, and someone still needs to monetize.

Get every mp3 streaming OR downloading in one place and charge a monthly fee and ensure the artist gets paid. Sounds simple, so why hasn't it been done? iTunes has come close. I need to understand how streaming would be any different from that model. It's more efficient for some people (not all - I want my files), but it really doesn't change the model as far as I can see.

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

Terry J Leach — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:22:01 -0000

Fred maybe you have observed the evolving Internet life cycle for intellectual property. The initial use of digitized content just distribution channel with no regard for IP or making making money, but if the owners of the IP license the IP to a variety of channels over time the profit motives by the various channels reduces the transactional friction. It's like creating an Long-tail Innovation ecosystem, where the IP owners are comfortable with collaborating and licensing their IP and not having total control. The IP owner's revenue stream may never be the same as before but their content will have broader reach.

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

fredwilson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:30:21 -0000

I agree. I wrote a post a few years back called 'convenience trumps quality'. I think convenience is the number one quality you need to attract users. In the case of twitter, its the ability to tweet from sms. Many people move away from that once they get a mobile client, but its always there if you need it and its on every phone

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

fredwilson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:25:23 -0000

Well I can tell you that I will miss them. A lot.

But they hated twitter, tumblr, boxee, and many other investments I made until they understood them a bit better. Now they love all of them and use them

So I don't know. I learn a lot from watching them but they certainly don't lead me to my investments. If it was up to them, I'd be locked into only one investment - facebook

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

fredwilson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:22:32 -0000

Wow

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

fredwilson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:20:16 -0000

Its a good model. More will adopt it

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

vijayanand — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:52:04 -0000

Couldnt agree more on this.

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

RollingStoneKK69 — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:54:20 -0000

I am so following this blog. I am learning so much.

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

Matija — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:04:09 -0000

All this 'piracy is theft' screaming is just one big whine to my ears. You're all like the little kid in the kindergarden crying because another kid took away one of their toys, while not noticing a crowd of starving children just outside the window. Or, even worse, like a policeman putting a parking ticket on a car while next to him a band of hulky teenagers are beating the crap out of a little kid.

Couldn't you just finally shut up if you can't find anything more serious to discuss, please?

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

Matija — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:43:29 -0000

The problem is, in every ten people I know, there's six of them who spend more to just survive and feed their kids in a month, than they actually earned during that same month working a honest work. They are the victims of 'blood piracy' as their employers gradually suck the last drop of life from their bodies. Why does nobody ever cry against *that* kind of piracy?

So yeah, lots of people work without earning what they should, in that perspective, you at least have a bonus of being an artist, and therefore heard. Just stop complaining and work (like the people I've mentioned are told repeatedly every day).

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

eric — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:00:08 -0000

the website for the film.
http://www.generationrxfilm...

Stream provided above at Amazon (but not available in Canada)

Torrent - DVD Rip
http://isohunt.com/torrent_...

ok you have my attention. I would watch this (now)...

I am not going to order the DVD, simply put, because I don't need it (physical product). $1 or $2 to stream... I might pay (but not because of the content, because of this thread), if it was easy to do. maybe it is, you tell me - I haven't found an easy way... yet.

>> but did it for people who were "cash-challenged," so to speak.
how much do you want to make from me? $2 seems generous - considering my passive relationship to you, the project, the film. of course that could change after I see it... if i see it.

how much do you need for the project to make money? be considered successful? how do you fund the creation of the movie? what are your revenue streams?

It seems to me that you need to find the people who care about what the movie is about - some in advance of the creation of the movie, some after. and get as many people as possible to watch it - ie remove friction.

who wants to (should) suport the movie? is it pure entertainment?

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

Kontra — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:53:02 -0000

How do you get universal streaming infrastructure ready in the U.S. in under 5 years?

Awful lot of music, for example, is consumed on-the-go or out-of-base. The reaction of network operators to the most significant streaming device we have, iPhone, has not been pretty. They are not jumping at the chance to invest in the infrastructure and perhaps not seeing sufficient ROI.

Surely in the long run this'll get sorted out, but in the 3 year frame, how do you see incumbent network operators (cable, phone, cell) delivering universal streaming payloads?

Re: Streaming Kills Piracy

csertoglu — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:49:31 -0000

I personally prefer streaming, as well, but at least when music is concerned, you could technically have the entire recorded music catalog local on your hard-drive. With storage costs coming down, that may emerge as an alternative model. Not the most efficient solution, i realize, but one also is blown away when bandwidth requirements exponentially grow with all these streams.