There has been an interesting debate over the last few years as to whether the downloading or file sharing of movies/music on internet should be banned or not. The movie/music industry has been arguing that a lot of efforts, time and money go into the making of it so they should have all the right in the world to make money out of it and that they have not been able to exercise that right due to rampant downloading/file sharing that takes place online. On the other hand, there is a strong belief that there should not be any restrictions of such kind. Recently, the Dutch government passed a landmark judgment that such downloading of content is perfectly legal. The decision was a result of the study undertaken on behalf of the Dutch Ministries of Education, Economic Affairs, and Justice, which concluded that such file sharing adds to the social welfare and that it has an overall positive effect. Surprisingly, it also says that such ban restricts free flow of information and invades internet user's privacy. On the face of it one may feel that the industry will suffer huge losses as the direct revenue from the sales of original CD/DVDs will go down, though I believe this will benefit the industry as a whole.
Of late, we have seen a number of Hollywood celebrities flying down to India in order to promote their music/movies. Why this sudden influx of celebrities? It is because they have realized the potential of the Indian market (i.e. commercial potential). How did we become a potential market for them? It is because we have been exposed to their music/movies through internet. Same is the case in other countries as well. India is more attractive, of course, because even if a small percentage of population is interested in something, the absolute number is always going to be large considering our population. So these companies should realize that internet, on the contrary, has opened up new sources of revenue for them which did not exist earlier. Somebody who had seen Tom Cruise’s earlier movies on his/her computer (by downloading it from some free site) is now shelling out Rs.150 plus to watch him in multiplexes. We have seen Lady gaga promoting her album and getting interviewed by Shahrukh Khan in India. Paris Hilton also launched a product line here recently and these are just few examples. How frequently did this happen earlier? Not much.
Same is true for music as well. Fortunately, there are some artists who realize that the times are changing and they have used that knowledge to their advantage rather than making a fuss about it. Some local band in US had uploaded their music videos online and these videos were made available for downloading free of cost. People had an option to pay if they liked. How many people actually paid is still a mystery (as given a choice nobody would like to pay for something that is freely available) but one should look at the bigger picture. On one hand, a local band got a platform to reach out to a worldwide audience free of cost and on the other hand they get to mint money when they go for music concerts and the same people who had downloaded their videos for free will pay a huge sum to watch them perform live, provided of course they make some good music. So it is a question of sacrificing Rs. 10 in order to make Rs. 15. It is also a lesson for music companies that they cannot take people for granted. Earlier, the original CD costing Rs.60 is now available for Rs.30 and still these companies are making profits. Internet has acted as a great equalizer in this case as it has not only expanded the market for these companies but at the same time it has brought the cost down for the end-users.
Of late, we have seen a number of Hollywood celebrities flying down to India in order to promote their music/movies. Why this sudden influx of celebrities? It is because they have realized the potential of the Indian market (i.e. commercial potential). How did we become a potential market for them? It is because we have been exposed to their music/movies through internet. Same is the case in other countries as well. India is more attractive, of course, because even if a small percentage of population is interested in something, the absolute number is always going to be large considering our population. So these companies should realize that internet, on the contrary, has opened up new sources of revenue for them which did not exist earlier. Somebody who had seen Tom Cruise’s earlier movies on his/her computer (by downloading it from some free site) is now shelling out Rs.150 plus to watch him in multiplexes. We have seen Lady gaga promoting her album and getting interviewed by Shahrukh Khan in India. Paris Hilton also launched a product line here recently and these are just few examples. How frequently did this happen earlier? Not much.
Same is true for music as well. Fortunately, there are some artists who realize that the times are changing and they have used that knowledge to their advantage rather than making a fuss about it. Some local band in US had uploaded their music videos online and these videos were made available for downloading free of cost. People had an option to pay if they liked. How many people actually paid is still a mystery (as given a choice nobody would like to pay for something that is freely available) but one should look at the bigger picture. On one hand, a local band got a platform to reach out to a worldwide audience free of cost and on the other hand they get to mint money when they go for music concerts and the same people who had downloaded their videos for free will pay a huge sum to watch them perform live, provided of course they make some good music. So it is a question of sacrificing Rs. 10 in order to make Rs. 15. It is also a lesson for music companies that they cannot take people for granted. Earlier, the original CD costing Rs.60 is now available for Rs.30 and still these companies are making profits. Internet has acted as a great equalizer in this case as it has not only expanded the market for these companies but at the same time it has brought the cost down for the end-users.
