Steve Gordon Interview

[Rohan Kohli]

Click here (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/features/weekly/06-04-03-live-at-the-witch-trials.shtml) to read Pitchfork's recent interview with entertainment lawyer and author Steve Gordon. Gordon discusses the "players behind the [RIAA's] lawsuits" and "what the battle over digital music means for consumers, labels, and artists."

[Paul Tao]

Yeah this is a gigantic beast of an interview

[bnizzle182]

Yeah that interview was huge, but well worth reading.

[logalog]

He does a good job of explaining all the ways record companies are shooting themselves in the foot but I still don't understand his practical solution to the problem?

[TBSowns524]

I like his solution, but it was unclear to me whether he was talking about taxing the companies who put out computers, cd burners, ipods, etc. or if he wants to tax the good itself and have the consumer pay the tax. I personally, feel the corporations and consumers could split the tax. I am also skeptical as to whether this idea would work. I just feel like if downloading was legal, cd sales would drop astronomically. I don't know. It's a good interview though.

[logalog]

I like his solution, but it was unclear to me whether he was talking about taxing the companies who put out computers, cd burners, ipods, etc. or if he wants to tax the good itself and have the consumer pay the tax. I personally, feel the corporations and consumers could split the tax. I am also skeptical as to whether this idea would work. I just feel like if downloading was legal, cd sales would drop astronomically. I don't know. It's a good interview though.

I assumed the tax was on the consumers. That doesn't make sense to me though because why would these manufacturers want their customers taxed. And would it be a blanket tax for any new computer sold?

[A picasso blue]

i hate pitchfork. they called Frances the Mute "a homogenous shitheap"

[boekebong]

That was a great interview, so of course there are only like 6 replies. Damn lazy kids.

I like his solution, but it was unclear to me whether he was talking about taxing the companies who put out computers, cd burners, ipods, etc. or if he wants to tax the good itself and have the consumer pay the tax. I personally, feel the corporations and consumers could split the tax. I am also skeptical as to whether this idea would work. I just feel like if downloading was legal, cd sales would drop astronomically. I don't know. It's a good interview though.

I think his point is exactly that. CD sales are dropping, and will continue to drop, astronomically, no matter what the record companies do. He's arguing that they are losing all of the money they could be making on their music to third parties- namely hardware manufacturers and ISPs. Since the old model will not work for them, they should embrace free music and make their money by taking royalties from those third parties, who are currently making money off the content of the record labels and artists but not giving anything back. In his model, the consumer no longer buys albums because music is free online. The "tax" he talks about would come as a higher cost to people who buy computers/internet connections/mp3 players, but theoretically they are the ones getting the music for free, so they can afford to spend at least some of the money they are saving on a slightly higher cost for those other goods.

[resUrectMe617]

i'd like to be an entertainment lawyer someday.

great, thorough interview.

[SwedishHeat]

Dang, I just made a presentation in my Public Relations class on the RIAA yesterday, and really could have used this.

[ryheeles]

quite the long interview, but i'm not so sure about his solution. how many consumers would be willing to pay more tax on expensive products that they're already paying sales tax on? i know i'm not too fond of the idea

[boekebong]

quite the long interview, but i'm not so sure about his solution. how many consumers would be willing to pay more tax on expensive products that they're already paying sales tax on? i know i'm not too fond of the idea

In exchange you would never have to buy another cd again. That's the point. You have to pay for music somehow. You think it just grows free on trees?

[FacingSorrow]

ok stupid question here...but I'm not very up to date on this whole situation. Is the RIAA only filing lawsuits against people who shared songs...or people who downloaded them? From what I got in that article it sounded like people who made music available to others.

[ryheeles]

In exchange you would never have to buy another cd again. That's the point. You have to pay for music somehow. You think it just grows free on trees?

that's assuming that record companies won't even bother to make cd's anymore. i don't know about you, but i'm the kind of guy who likes to have the artwork and all, so if there's a cd that i want, i buy it. so it doesn't work for everyone

[ryheeles]

ok stupid question here...but I'm not very up to date on this whole situation. Is the RIAA only filing lawsuits against people who shared songs...or people who downloaded them? From what I got in that article it sounded like people who made music available to others.

if you download on limewire or whatever P2P you use but you don't share your files, there's no record of you doing anything wrong. so the suits are against people who share files

[anthony_jr]

pretty damn informative.