Free Music and Movies for All?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

With all the debate I’ve seen on music copying and the music industry’s futile attemts to stop it, I was wondering:

Is there an effective pricing structure that the music and movie industries could use to guarantee revenue?

One (silly) example would be if Metallica recorded a new album, but wouldn’t release it until $3 million was sent to them by the people who actually wanted to listen to it. Once their figure had been reached, they would release it to the general public, who could then distribute it freely. Kind of a “music hostage” model.

Or perhaps after every movie, the director could make a personal appeal, “If you liked this movie, please send 3 dollars check or money order to George Lucas, PO Box…”

Or are the rediculously high markups on music and movies simply going the way of the 8-track?

Is there any other industry that prices their product this way already?

2

Yes. It’s called sex within a long term relationship. Goodies are withheld untill huge payments have been made :smiley:

3

Very interesting suggestions, good topic for Great Debates, where the ethics of intellectual property use have been a regular topic. In the second one it seems like you mean something like “shareware” for products other than software. Maybe a time-limit format for recordings – listen for a day free to see if you like it, then purchase the registration key to unlimited use. More difficult with movies, as for most of them, one viewing is usually enough.