Sounds from Innerspace

Oriphiel · 11-14-2016, 05:15 AM

Hey, I'm down to talk about all of this again.

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Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

Today has been a day of unsettling revelations and clarity about the world around me.

I'll be the first to confess that I have significant gaping holes in my understanding of contemporary society and culture, but I am doing my very best to overcome this. But from what little understanding I do have, I’ve failed to grasp how our economy functions at all with regard to the creative arts. I could not fathom how digital media markets were still a functional concept in 2016. I've had several discussions in various communities where I posed the question, “how does an industry exist selling goods which are infinitely replicable and distributable at no cost to the consumer?”

Because people are paying for a good/service, not for the packaging. The cost of manufacture is irrelevant when you're talking about a product of experience. For example, I could walk up to someone and sing a song for them, which wouldn't cost me anything to do. Because the song was made without expense, does that mean it is worthless? Are the feelings evoked in the listener worthless? Are they a fool for giving me a dollar for the experience?

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Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

Please do not misinterpret my intent - I am a tremendous advocate for compensating content creators for their work, but the current “legitimate” system of compensation is fundamentally broken. Streaming services fail completely at this task, as only .3% of unsigned artists and 2% of signed artists featured on the world’s largest streaming network earn royalties equivalent to or exceeding that of minimum-wage. (The situation is even more dire on the largest media website, YouTube, where the percentages of minimum-wage earners are only .07% of unsigned and .5% of signed artists, respectively.) So in an economy which has completely forsaken the arts, and in light of the inherently ungovernable nature of digital media, I was perplexed how is anyone in the media arts is to make any sort of living.

Dude, we get it. Itunes sucks. That's because digital goods are a relatively new market, and new markets are always playgrounds for corporate corruption. Back in the day, railroad workers used to get paid next to nothing, and they were treated like slaves. Now, when the government needs to create or maintain a railroad, the people who work on them aren't beaten and starved, and get paid a fair wage. As markets and industries age they become more stable and regulated. True, corruption will always exist in some capacity, just like how some employers hire illegal immigrants so that they can force them to work for basically free under threat of deportation. But on average, things do get better over time. Bandcamp has already proven that artists don't need a massive streaming conglomerate to sell their music. They can sell it directly to their audience, for whatever price they want, with minimal middle-man fees.

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Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

And the corruption of this system continues with the purchase by the customer, as iTunes media loses 100% of its value after first-sale and purchased content can never be resold. Does this not plainly demonstrate the nonsensical nature of the digital market? How does such a business model sustain itself when it in no way rewards the efforts of the content creators whose product it sells? This was a critical fault of the music industry for nearly half a century where labels engineered a system from which artists could never profit, but which has been infinitely refined to a corrupt perfection with the latest digital model.

Actually, digital goods can be resold. There are already many websites that pay for Steam keys, as well as digital content unlocked or purchased in-game. Not too long ago, there was a big blow-up over some websites that allowed people to gamble their weapon/skin mods, because it turned out that the people shamelessly advertising it on Youtube failed to disclose that they were the owners, and that the whole system was rigged. Just like with physical goods, digital goods have clearly shown that they have a value, and that people are willing to do whatever it takes to acquire them. Just like how you spend hundreds to find a rare pressing of an album you already own that is aurally identical, so do people buy into seedy websites and drop hundreds of dollars for a chance to win a cosmetic mod that changes nothing about the gameplay. So please, do your homework before you talk about digital media.

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Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

And if my understanding of this is at all correct, then I must ask how is this matter not the paramount priority of our culture? Artists are a society’s means of grappling with all the troubles of the world and expressing all the horrors and beauties, both intrinsic and extrinsic, which encompass its very identity. It is how we understand ourselves. Shouldn’t the well-being of the arts be regarded as something of importance?

Oh, because the exploitation of artists is some new issue? Digital artists who sign on to large streaming networks may make little to nothing, but that's nothing compared to the physical record labels of old who intentionally put artists into debt with recording, pressing, and distribution fees. Things still suck, but not nearly as much as they used to. But yes, I also hope that people stop accepting the exploitation of artists, and demand that they receive fair wages. You should look into how video game programmers and voice actors are treated if you want some homework. Back in the day, some companies refused to even credit them. The man who designed the expertly crafted pre-rendered cutscenes in Silent Hill had to fight tooth and nail just to get his name on the project.

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Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

And the ludicrousness in no way ends with the media marketplace. After today’s conversations, it would appear that my error was apparently in my attempt to apply rationality and reason to an entirely illogical system. We as a nation produce very little, so there is no means of production for the workers to reclaim. Nearly our entire brick and mortar market system is comprised of foreign (or even virtual) goods.

It's called a service economy. You may hate it, but it's what gives you the luxury to sit on the internet and complain about corporations, while waiting for your package of artisinal goods to reach your doorstep.

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Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

I worked fox a big box corporation in 2012 with entire aisles of empty boxes priced at $30-$300 containing tiny slips of paper with a download code. It made absolutely no sense. Why would a brick and mortar market exist selling literally empty boxes with a markup on a virtual good which you could simply download online, legitimately or otherwise? These industries are consuming themselves and consolidating to fewer and fewer, larger and larger corporations in an effort to maintain a positive cash flow but an ever-increasing percentage of consumers are becoming sensible enough to purchase goods direct from producers or from virtual vendors with no overhead via the web, so the days of corporate brick and mortar are truly numbered. And more and more, mass produced goods have become obsolete with the advent and affordability of on-demand custom consumer goods via services like Redbubble, Skinit, Decalgirl, and a flood of on-demand web-based businesses, rendering the traditional print and textile industries practically irrelevant.

Someone who works two jobs just to stay alive isn't going to have the time or money for custom artisinal goods, when a one dollar t-shirt from the local thrift store or Walmart serves the same purpose at a fraction of the cost. Mass produced goods are ****ing awesome, because if you don't want them you can ignore them and buy your artisinal goods, but the people who literally need them don't have to pay big bucks just to clothe and feed themselves.

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Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

Evidently, in a phantom economy which produces nothing and does not adequately compensate its creators nor its workers, we are all just wage slaves living day in and day out as servants of illusory corporate stability which has no real foundation nor conceivable longevity.

Did you know?

The world sucks. It has always sucked, and it will always suck. The rich will exploit the poor, and the poor will exploit themselves. Artists will struggle, while thieves become kings. All we can do is carry on, and to try to make things at least a little bit better. You may think digital goods are a conundrum, but guess what? They're here, and they're here to stay. Instead of stealing what you want because in your mental calculations you figure you're hurting corporations more than artists, maybe you could try to figure out a way that artists can sell their music without getting screwed? Maybe you could look at the successes and failures of Itunes and Bandcamp, and design a system that's even better, without just throwing your hands up and saying "Digital goods confuse my morality. Let's just make everything free! Now the artists that make a penny per song can make nothing per song! Yay!"

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Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

I need a drink.

Yo, that better be an independently crafted drink. Don't want to piss off Big Hipster.

innerspaceboy · 11-14-2016, 05:44 PM

Thanks so much, everyone for reading my inane rantings, tolerating my cluelessness, and for contributing your valuable insight. My goal in all this is to develop a better understanding of the world *out there*. As you were each so kind as to read and reply, I'll address each of your comments.

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Originally Posted by The Batlord

You're gonna have to explain that one. How can you clothe 7 billion people without mass produced goods?

You are quite right, of course. The market for artisanal goods could never, ever sustain a customer base of 7BN people. But that was not my claim. I stated that, “more and more, mass produced goods have become obsolete” and that these newer direct print businesses render “the traditional print and textile industries practically irrelevant.” That data is only relevant in the context of demographics with the ability and potential to make online purchases for reasons of cost-saving, convenience, and the additional bonus of customization. None of those attributes benefit the 2.5 billion people who are more concerned with pressing issues such as clean water and adequate sanitation. But I’ll amend my statement to be more factually precise - e-commerce (including the markets I cited) have had a profoundly negative impact on brick and mortar real-world shopping trends.

WSJ published an article titled, Stores Confront New World of Reduced Shopper Traffic - E-Commerce Not Only Siphons Off Sales, but Changes Shopping Habits and featured some alarming statistics about the massive downward trend in shopping center traffic. In January of 2014 when the piece was published, online sales had increased by more than double the rate of brick-and-mortar sales.

So please forgive me for my narrow-sighted claim - it is e-commerce and not artisanal goods which continue to displace the brick and mortar corporate industries.

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Originally Posted by Frownland

You were born to play the hurdy gurdy.

Yes. Yes, I was. (More on this after Tristan’s comment below.)

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Originally Posted by Tristan Geoff

I was talking to Qwertyy about it earlier. But I could see you playing in some weirdo electronic or folk outfit.

I’ll confess a dirty secret here - in art college, I had a 360-degree beard-afro and was captivated by madrigally-inspired prog. There were Tull and Gentle Giant LPs everywhere and I swooned many a lass with my 12-string acoustic guitar. I recorded a few albums back then but I don’t think the reels survived.

But then I left art school, found Eno, took a damn shower, cut my hair, and never looked back.

Funny you should mention music-making - I’m presently building an audio workstation with Ableton Live Suite, Reaktor 6 and a stockpile of VST banks. Now it’ll be MY turn to not get compensated for my work!

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Originally Posted by mordwyr

Well, there's one thing you can't consume digitally.

Touché.

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