I was listening to Revolver this morning, in mp3 format, and reflecting on the fact that when that album came out, Beatles fans had no choice but to actually buy the legitimate, legal album. Imagine!
This is especially strange to me in my present environment, because in all my time here i have not ever (ever!) seen a legal cd or dvd. Or computer software. Even if you wanted to buy a proper, legitimate cd, you really wouldn´t be able to. All cds in Bolivia are burnt, and come in a clear plastic sleeve with two pieces of paper: a colour photocopy of the front of the album and a black and white copy of the back. They cost around a dollar canadian.
We can look at this as an incredibly corrupt culture with no respect for copyrights, or we can analyze this from an economic viewpoint. The legal supply of the commodity is so expensive, read inaccessible, relative to the average income, that the demand has turned elsewhere: the black market! Aaaah, so THIS is the invisible hand Adam Smith was raving about!
Behold, free market economics in all its glory! If there was a little government regulation on the prices of CDs, or, you know, social welfare programs so people didn´t have to work for half a week (literally) to buy a CD, maybe the black market wouldn´t be thriving the way it is!
Not that i´m advocating buying CDs. Unless they´re independent. If they´re not you might as well download the thing and mail three bucks to the band, it´s more than they get from a major record label anyway.
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3 comments:
That's a very interesting article you provided with that link.
... not that your observations are not interesting.
If people can't afford what they want through legal means, well, they're smart enough to figure out some other means. I don't think that means anyone's corrupt.
The thing I like about the free market is that it does not judge. It's just a process. There are many cases where you need regulation - arsenic doesn't belong in baby food - but it seems there are bigger issues in Bolivia right now than copyright law.
And I like how musicians are becoming better at business. Which is great, because I want to support the artists, not the media companies.
www.goodnightnobody.ca
Whole album is up there. Enjoy!
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