In order to better understand the traditional pirates with all of their yargh's and avasts and peg legs and hooks and rum, we need to understand the environment that created them. Or at least half assed guess at it because I want to construct a model that is accurate to the way I view things and facts might get in the way. It's the presidential way of assembling information.The pirates that most people think of with all of their salty language and swashbuckling ways were a direct result of the East India Trading Company and their 21 year monopoly on trade in many parts of the world. This control of the world's richest sea routes by one company lead to the expansion of slave labor and conscription.
When individuals are forced to work against their wills, they can get a little pissy about it. While every ship in the fleet was essentially controlled by the world's first publicly traded multi-national corporation (we're talking about the East India Company in case you forgot), each ship operated as a microcosm independent of the supporting host. The sailors knew each other and could form trusting relationships with each other. In their world, the captain of the ship may as well have been the King of England. The captain was the final say on all matters. And if the sailors got fed up with their appointed leader, they could easily band together and mutiny.
So after hauling sugar and coffee and tea and toys coated with lead paint across the globe under the rule of a representative of a ruthless multi-national, what are you going to do for a job? You can't go into private practice. Your old boss has an exclusive contract and, well, you kind of killed the supervisor and stole the ship. It doesn't look too good on a resume. So privateering in illegal goods is a pretty good option. So you set about trading in all those things that other people in legitimate business don't want to touch. But the boss is kind of pissed about the whole losing the ship thing. He could give a flying fuck about the captain. But ships cost money! So they try to get it back. Forcibly. As privateers you can either run or fight. Since you fight dirty, you figure your odds are pretty good. You kick over the pursuing vessel and shiver your timbers! The thing is filled with valuable stuff. You can take this shit for yourself. Maybe even sell some of it. In the grand scheme of things it kind of feels like payback for their years of treating you poorly and never giving you a raise on your annual review dates. And the hours sucked! And they wouldn't let you drink! And they didn't allow you to bring the prostitute on board even though all the guys had chipped in to book her for the entire voyage and had all agreed to share her nicely! Well screw them! I think they owe us a bit more than this, right lads?
So that was pirating. And I think the resurgence in piracy, especially media piracy, has similar roots for a lot of people. I wouldn't say a majority. I'm fairly certain that the majority don't even really think about it. But there are those who do. They see a company charging too much and the people working at the top of it having better stuff than they do. Many have even worked within those old industries and revolted. We have a pirate resurgence as a result of giant multi-national corporations seizing monopoly like controls. People have the tools with which they can steel and share with other pirates. What they do is not legal, but the way the companies they steal from operate shouldn't be legal. Many of these big companies are exploitive and use their power to squeeze out competition.So I support pirates and will grant all pirates complete amnesty to operate within the borders of this country. As long as they share the rum.
chart credit info: Campbell, et al. Media and Culture
4 comments:
I think the artist is making plenty of dough in the pie chart posted. Half a mill seems mighty fine to me. If they come out with a new album every year or two and perhaps perform a few concerts they are doing just fine.
Now if we could just shrink that portion that goes to the label and make it the same size as the artist we would be all set! Or the artist can just tell the label to bite their ass and sell their work online. Perhaps they would not sell a million copies but 100% of a quarter million copies they sold themselves is still more than 10% of a million copies a suited monkey sold for them.
But more important do you think the new generation of pirates will wear fancy pirate clothes like in the movies?
Let's see, a quarter of a million split four ways for your typical band is $75,000 per gold record. Most bands will be lucky to make even one gold record in a ten year career. So that's a yearly income of $7,500. Which is not nearly enough for your typical cocaine habit.
Well if I suck at my job I have to find another one as well so it still seems like a good deal. If they can't use their success to play a few gigs for coke money then they are just lazy. If they never produce another album it is again because they are lazy or they just suck. Just because I smear a turd on the sidewalk does not mean someone will pay me for it.
What percentage of that pie do you think a studio would use for an artist like Britney to "hold the pieces together".
The graph mentions $250-500 k BEFORE additional expenses that may result in little NET profit.
This may be things like travel, tour bus, Gas for the bus, practice space...to name a few.
And that's IF their record goes GOLD.
And come on...a 1/10 of the pie? when you are the artist? When you worked your ass off?
And why should the media conglomerate and the retailer get over 50% of the pie? Why 2 middle men that get more then the creators? so John Doe CEO can make 400% more then the scrubs workin the cubical?
I don't necessarily support mega-marts nor the consolidation of media..if 50% of my money isn't going to the artists...well..shiver me timbers!
If an artist is worth his gold, then be better damn well be getting paid for it, not some hotshot who said, "I can make money of these guys, here Walmart, sell this..."
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