There have been some changes in the laws in Canada concerning
music and its download in the recent years. Let us look at some
of the important aspects that have been affecting the music
industry. Some of the aspects of music concerning taxes, charges
and the like deserve a closer look.
There is much talk that peer-to-peer is
target="_blank">music download is responsible for declining
music sales. While there may be some amount of truth to the
statement, a large part of the decibels raised may well be due
to good old plain rhetoric. Industry numbers suggest that the
popularity of latest gizmos like DVDs, retail chain distribution
changes, and reduced prices of CDs in the retail market all have
been playing their own role in the so-called woes. The woes
themselves may not be entirely true themselves, as the music
industry has seen fair amount of growth in recent years.
It can also be said with reasonable surety that Canadian
artists' royalty losses have been offset by the private copying
levy system. The Canadian Private Copying Collective alone has
collected millions of dollars over the past few years with much
of that revenue earmarked for Canadian artists.
Laws that require people to pay for simple
target="_blank">music software goodies like the popular
iTunes have the potential of nipping a nascent industry in the
bud. Whereas Apple iTunes may well be able to survive the
pressure by using its deep pockets, smaller players may not be
so lucky. Copyright rules require music download industry to
submit more than 40% of their revenue to the collectives.
Incredible as it may seem, even the 40% of gross revenues as
envisioned by these tariffs may not cover all the rights that
are associated with commercial music download services. It
remains well within the realm of possibility that other groups,
including collectives representing music performers and
producers, may come forward to demand their piece of the cake by
further cutting into online music services' revenues.
The well established players have settlements that have been
well negotiated to their advantage with the record labels, it is
the development of a viable economic model that the future
growth of the industry depends on. The much maligned peer to
peer downloads are actually already subject to a fair amount of
compensation through the levy on private copying. The actual
threat lies elsewhere - the collectives that essentially are
poised to capture a very large share of the tiny market.
Other innovative areas which the tariff lovers are tapping
include the webcasters and online games industry. Others have
been eyeing the multi-million online sharing music industry. As
much as 25% of revenues, however, continue to come from the
online websites that offer music sharing with
target="_blank">free music software. The reproduction rights
over online music are also being targeted to generate additional
revenue in this vast field. Audio webcast sites that feature
content similar to conventional radio stations, as well as from
established radio stations that webcast their signal also well
in the line of fire. Of course, there are different rates of
taxes for different online services - varying from five percent
to as high as twenty-five percent.
Happy downloading! I am sure you will now not worry about the
download costs of your music!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
The Canadian Music Industry And The Effect Of Peer-To-Peer
Posted by hiyosinaga
10:34 AM, under news |