Stupid is as Stupid Does
I see that it's not just the RIAA and MPAA that have terminal stupidity - there are artists out there who are afflicted as well. Consider what Spotify calls "windowing" - releasing music to iTunes (and other digital sales sites) prior to letting them play on streaming services. The theory is that this amplifies sales. That theory is just stupid, as John Irwin of Spotify explains:
Certainly it's not supported at all by data and facts. There's no data to suggest that it does [negatively affect] sales. To the contrary, our indicators point out that if you want to increase sales, you ought to be increasing access to your music. People want to listen to music--they don't want a 30-second sample. It's kind of wrongheaded to think you're creating scarcity by withholding [music from Spotify]. When you withhold a record on Spotify, it is available on torrent sites, on Grooveshark, as well as on YouTube likely. You're not creating any kind of scarcity.
The reality is this: everything you could download is available for free if you spend a couple of minutes looking. Most people are willing to pay if you make it simple enough. Make it hard, and you'll just increase piracy. That then generates idiocy like SOPA and ACTA, as a response to the eariler stupidity. It becomes a really vicious circle, in which no one wins....
