Why It's Better To Be A Pirate

I don't want to advocate theft, but studios really treat paying customers like shit. How to you justify making me watch commercials on something I own? (Link via The Presurfer)

Previously on Popped Culture...
Stay Out of Riverdale!
Tech Bites Man
Karma Police

Karma Police

How much would you pay for the new Radiohead album? Would you drop $14.99 for a CD or $9.99 for a digital download? How about $81 or just 10 cents.

It’s not just a theoretical question – the rock auteurs have announced their latest album, In Rainbows, will be available for download off the website, with buyers choosing what to pay. It’s an interesting challenge to the record labels, digital retailers and fans alike.

If a band only earns 10% of the retail price of a CD, then even the equivalent of the cost of one track from iTunes would potentially net them just as much. Of course some people will still download it for free, but those people likely weren’t going to buy it in the first place. For those who do pay, all the money is going to the band and the middlemen get zilch.

The pricing model for music is still being worked out. P2P networks forced labels to start selling digitally and Steve Jobs laid down the gauntlet that has sent the DRM walls tumbling in the past few months. Now Radiohead and their ilk are throwing new options into the mix.

People really should pay something for music – and I say this as someone who has indulged in my fair share of downloads. No matter how much labels and retailers might be taking off the top, some does filter down to the artist. And even musicians that offer their music for free needs to make something off their art. You don’t see them playing tours for free, do you? So if bands are now taking distribution into their own hands and the money (or at least more of it) goes directly into their pockets, all the better.

As for Radiohead, I plan to pay $5. I really haven’t enjoyed anything since OK Computer, but for that amount what do I have to lose?

Tech Bites Man

Didn’t you love how Heroes wrapped up? How about the Simpsons? Do you think it still has what it takes after 400 episodes? I ask because I have no idea myself, as our PVR decided to give up the ghost over the long weekend, taking my pop culture joys with it.

When we first got the PVR it was a revelation. No longer were we shackled to the primetime grid, it was souped-up VCR that let us watch shows whenever we wanted. Instead of thinking a new episode began at 8pm on a Monday it was now just when a new episode was available for viewing.

But recently the bloom has come off the rose as the machine that let us keep up with multiple serial dramas and reality shows started letting us down. The need for resets came more often and shows got lost in the downtime. It wouldn’t matter so much if the rest of the TV industry caught up to the new reality. So I missed a show – no big deal if I could watch it on demand over the following week. Imbed the ads and disable the fast forward function. I’d accept that as my payment. Or I’d pay for it at iTunes, but the Canadian version doesn’t sell TV shows. It is streaming at Global (the Canadian rebroadcaster) but on a cramped little screen and the NBC site won’t allow non-U.S. viewers.

So what’s a fan supposed to do? It is time to delve into the murky waters of BitTorrents. I’d rather not have to search for what the episode name, number and date of the show I am looking for, or to take the several hours to download what may or may not be the program it claims. I’d prefer to watch it on my big screen when I want to, but I can’t because the networks are still stuck in the box that many viewers have long since broken out of.