Towards Mecca

Since MP3’s, WinAmp, Napster, iPods and the like, the Music industry has been in trouble. Fewer people are buying Music CDs and more are downloading songs and albums. The Recording Industry sees declining revenues year in and year out. They’re also not the only ones complaining. Both the PC and Console game markets are seeing declines in sales due to pirating. The movie industry is trying to crack down on the number of illegal movie downloads to no avail.

What will this mean for the consumer? It means that if this keeps up, and it most likely will, all those industries will be short on cash. This could mean the eventual end of big-budget million dollar projects and the rise of independent music, films and games. Due to advances in affordable software and hardware, recording a professional-sounding song is much more viable now than it was 10 years ago. With HD cameras and video editing software, amateur film-makers are also bursting on the scene like never before and Youtube.com is full of their work! Independent games are harder to come by but the numbers are increasing and that’s good news!

The sad part is, I’m a collector at heart. I like holding a movie I’ve just purchased in my hands. I like stacking them up neatly (and sometimes alphabetically when I can be bothered) to show that I own a staggering 450 original DVD’s. I like buying a copy of my favorite game and looking at the front and back covers on the way home in anticipation.

I’m not saying that I want Media ownership to end or not to, I’m just saying that analysts everywhere are predicting it. I, for one, will miss the box and the instructions books. I don’t see the same thing happening to Novels and comic books though as I still think that the majority of people prefer to have hard-copies of those.

But the likely end of Media ownership is not all bad. For one, there will be much less control over what we watch. How hard will it be for corporations to control our intake of information when they have nothing to do with the sources anymore? Independent developers, song-writers, and film-makers will not be easily controllable! Take a look at digg.com as an example. News stories on that site don’t make it to the front page because some high up exec thinks we need to see the news item in question. News articles discrediting major news sources are on an all-time high simply because the end user has more and more control now over what they will see.

Also, eventually, raw talent and passion will push someone to stardom, not connections. If a song-writer records a brilliant work of art in his basement, he already has the tools to make it available for all the world to see! The ever-increasing internet crowd loves to praise as well as criticize, and so, the masses will finally be able to decide what will “sell” and what will not.

But what about all the Major players? If the music industry keeps taking big hit after big hit, won’t this mean the end of recorded music as we know it? Even if these basement musicians and their film and game creating counter-parts win over the world, won’t it mean nothing if there’s no mighty dollar to reward them with?

The myth of the mighty dollar being linked to corporations is a strong and widespread one. People will have to come to the realization that the corporations are not discovering and rewarding talent, they are artificially creating and profiting from it. With the corporations out of the way, there will be more money for more music. It’s true that most individual artists will not become over-night millionaires anymore but that’s a good thing! Musicians will have to work for their money with live-shows and actual good content (not fillers) or they simply won’t survive for long. Their work will have to be readily available as a free download online and they can make their money off advertisements. Anyone, and everyone, with talent will have a chance at making a living through music!

Of course I haven’t forgotten the ease of downloading content vs having to go to a store to buy it or even having it shipped to your home. Or the fact that “illegal = free” and “legal = unaffordable” to most. Those points and a few more only lend credence to the opinion that Media Ownership is on the decline.

So, what do you think? Is this a good or a bad thing?