Is Shawn Fanning's Snocap melting? 93
newtley writes "Rumors are swirling about the pending demise of Napster creator Shawn Fanning's Snocap, says former MP3.com CEO Michael Robertson. 'Articles mention a sale, but more likely it will be a shuttering and quiet bankruptcy,' he believes. 'Snocap represents a commonplace occurrence in the music business — an unprofitable retailer which withers and eventually dies.'"
Geez, mister political correct (Score:3, Interesting)
Get your knickers out of a twist you pansie. It just means that you can still make a lot of money from something small, if you just sell enough of it.
1 billion sales with a tiny profit still amounts to a hell of a lot of money, China is well known for having the world largest population. Why do you think the US is bending over backwards for this communist country while Cuba (population 2 people and a dog) is on every banlist they can think up?
As for sandals, that is about as racist as saying the dutch wear wooden shoes or the americans cowboy hats.
It is simple, if you mamange to make a single dollar cent of every chinese person in the world, you are still filthy rich.
I doubt the chinese are offended by it, it is not like the US related saying "nobody has every grown poor by underestimating the intelligence of the american customer".
Re:The market value of digital music: zero. (Score:3, Interesting)
So in your world, there are only physical products and labor. What about other intellectual property that can't be 'performed'? I can't 'perform' my software as a software developer, but it can be distributed at zero cost. If I'm a scientist/researcher, I can't 'perform' a medical drug, but it can be distributed at low cost. I can't 'perform' a book -- well, not in a form people will want to hear -- but I can sure write one, and the book, too, can be distributed at zero cost. There are myriad other examples.
You are turning the clock back about two centuries, and your world will be one where the only great works of art and science are funded by philanthropy and patronage. The founding fathers understood the need for protection for science and authorship, and that's why they wrote the "Progress Clause" into the Constitution:
"Congress shall have the power... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
What happened with CD Baby and Snocap (Score:5, Interesting)
Snocap had everything going for them, and could have probably succeeded, but their execution was so bad that it was unbearable.
Check out my What happened with CD Baby and Snocap [cdbaby.org] article, and especially the comments below it, with all these musicians so frustrated that Snocap won't reply to anybody's emails.
The most brilliant idea, with bad execution, is worth nothing. [oreillynet.com]
Re:The market value of digital music: zero. (Score:3, Interesting)
-Scientist/researchers are paid to "perform" research by funding agencies - usually government. Pharmaceuticals are a messed up oddity in research -hence why drugs are far too expensive.
-Writers in most fields are paid to "perform" writings for periodicals, not to collect royalties for 100+ years. For books, people pay for paper versions because they like the convenience.
Yeah copyright is useful, but draconian copyright that lasts centuries is pointless and hurts creativity. There are other, more common ways to make money.