Okay, this is a fact, with Windows Media Audio files, you can embed anything you want, such as a website URL of a band for example, directly into the stream. I’ve seen video files of current TV shows on Kaazaa do this, where after starting to play the latest episode of The Clone Wars, a window opens up in the background taking me to the guy who ripped the episode’s website. Cool.Why isn’t the recording industry doing this? We know for a fact that they are hijacking P2P networks, putting up audio files with 5 or 10 seconds of music followed by high pitched wails, why not do something constructive about this? Why not put up a few legit files in .wma format with an embedded link to the artist’s website, or a website where you can buy the album?
Wouldn’t that make sense? Use P2P files as a marketing tool?
How about this one, why doesn’t the record industry focus some of the virtrol that they’ve directed at P2P sharers on organized crime, which is currently making an estimated $4.6 billion a year from pirated hard-copy CD sales? That’s a hard number by the way, meaning that around a billion $5.00 pirate cd’s are sold a year. This isn’t some epherial number like “We lost $12 bajillion dollars to P2P sharers last year”, which is figured out by taking the 12 bajillion files that are traded on P2P networks and multiplying it by $1.00 each…not taking into account that 11.5 bajillion of those files would never, under any circumstances, be bought or played because some people are only interested in accumulating, not actually listening to, mp3 files.
The Australian music industry recorded a record year, despite, or some thing, because of internet file sharing. The BBC says that the music industry in Europe reported a 7% increase in sales.
Why doesn’t the recording industry just smarten the hell up and buy a clue?