I have to confess. I've been known to use the p2p networks to seek out content and acquire it from nefarious sources. I suppose the right thing to do would be to contact the parties I've infringed against and say "You're welcome."
Now there's no doubt that what I did was technically against the rules. But here's how it worked out for the "victims" of my horrible deeds:
Example #1
I was introduced to the LOST series about 1/3 of the way through season 1. The episode I saw was so engrossing that I couldn't help but to delve into the deprived world of p2p file sharing and pick up the episodes I had missed. The result was that I got completely hooked on the show and did everything I could to catch the next episode as soon as it came out on tv, commercials and all. Since then, every time I miss an episode I grab it from the interweb and get caught up. The following week, I'm back to the network choking back their advertising. If I didn't catch up on the missed episodes, I probably wouldn't watch the series on TV at all. Instead, I would wait until the season completed so I could buy the DVD and watch every episode back to back in a glorious display of tele-gluttony.
Example #2
I attended a conference in LA quite a ways back. During my visit I learned of a musical group called Band of Horses. When I returned home I tried going to their site to buy the mp3 album. No dice. I tried their label's site. Nada. eMusic. Nope. Amazon MP3, not in Canada my friend. iTunes? Who knows, I never bothered to see if there was a DRM laden version available. So, darkside did I go. Outcome, I loved the album so much that the very next day I went down to the big brick building full of plastic and bought myself a copy. I'm a fan for life. You can be sure I'll be buying the next album as soon as it comes out and the first place I'm going to look for it will be the band's site.
The lesson here is that unofficial discovery channels have just as much potential as any other to help keep and grow your fan base. It's all in how you look at the phenomenon.
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4 comments:
Just listened to Band of horses... really like their music. I think I will go out and buy their CD tomorrow. Any chance HMV would have it?
Their sound kind of reminds me of Explosions in the Sky: http://www.explosionsinthesky.com/
Keep writing. I'm finding it informative even though I really have nothing to do with the music industry.
Thanks Tyler.
There's a good chance HMV will have Band of Horses on CD. Looks like it's also available from the label in MP3 format now too! http://www.subpop.com/catalog/artists/band_of_horses
Thanks, picked it up this morning.
Hahaha, it's classic how the Majors are too greedy to figure this one out.
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