MorMovies wrote to zorn-list:
M> The artist gets ripped off if he licenses his/her work to one
M> territory but it the work gets distributed worldwide.
Balls. The *artist* is not ripped off; it's still a *sale*, where the
retail step of the chain takes place has nothing to do with the
artist's percentage of the take from the distributor. It's not like
the disc has been pirated or anything, everybody who would have gotten
paid has been paid (Royal Mail or whoever just got a bigger taste of
their own for the international shipping).
M> Other companies won't pay a licensing fee to the artist if the work
M> is already trickling into their territory.
Yeah, right. Those Beatles lps on Vee Jay *really damaged* Capitol.
Pffft. A *trickle* of imports to anoraks has no more effect on the
marketing decisions of the majors than any other opinion those anoraks
might have. If anything, staggered releases work to build hype,
*because* some people will jump for the import and then talk it up for
their own ego effects, *and the suits know it*: look at the recent
"breaking" of The Strokes (or in another medium, China Miéville) for
just that sort of process.
--
Jim Flannery newgrange(a)sfo.com
There's no need for us to return to San Francisco at all.
-- Michael Moorcock
np: Old, _Formula_
nr: Mick Farren, _Give the Anarchist a Cigarette_
