Finding the Rhythm

Bob Lefsetz, music industry blowhard and blogger, is a smart guy, and I happen to agree with a lot of what he says. Earlier today, in his newsletter (the guy writes his blog, but sends the latest out to his subscribers, and then later posts it to the archive) he was talking about Warner Music, and what Edgar Bronfman, Jr., its CEO, had to say on a recent investor call about licensing of music. Interesting things were said, but I think the part that snagged me the most was where Lefsetz said, “Actually, it’s not as bad as it appears.  Because Bronfman is for licensing at the ISP level,” implying that Lefsetz himself was supportive of this idea.

For those out of the loop, the general thrust of the idea is that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Comcast, Verizon, Qwest, etc. would collect what is essentially a private tax on consumer broadband connections to the Internet. The funds collected would then be redistributed to licensors of music, namely Warner, Universal, Sony/BMG, etc.

The idea is not without precedent. Blank CD media designed for audio use ostensibly have a fee slapped onto them for a similar reason; surely if you’re burning an audio CD, you must certainly be doing so to pirate music, right? Just like anyone with an Internet connection is, by definition, stealing music by the armful, and and therefore, should pay for the privilege.

Whether the notion has any legs is anyone’s guess, but the fundamental assumptions offend me. Maybe most home Internet users do steal music; I really don’t know (or particularly care). But the idea of assessing every Internet user in the country a fee and then giving the money collected to music labels makes about as much sense to me adding a fee to hammer sales and giving the money to major hospital chains because someone might use the thing to beat someone senseless who doesn’t have health insurance, and by God, somebody’s gotta pay!  (Right?)

My big question is how Warner’s Bronfman proposes distributing the money that would be collected. Let me guess—every penny goes to Warner, Universal, and Sony/BMG? So people are then free to steal my music, because of course the legal right to do so is bundled with their Internet access, but I’ll never actually see a dime, because the major record labels get all of it. Do I understand correctly?

I get that music on major records labels account for the vast majority of the action—sales, piracy, Grammy awards, sync licensing, and everything else. But if small labels and indie artists are completely locked-out from the party, then basically all we accomplish is consumers having their theft justified and “paid for” and the majors get to stop whining—while the rest of us just get to bend over and take it like a man.

If that’s not really what Lefsetz or Bronfman have in-mind, then how would they propose it be handled? If we essentially legalize theft, it’s only fair that small labels and indie artists get their share too, since their music is also now being “legally stolen.” But how on Earth can that really happen? Is someone at each ISP going to examine every file transferred over their network and keep some sort of log? Let’s be real.

Of course, what I think doesn’t matter, and neither does fairness. If this idea is allowed to have legs, only the major labels win. The artists on those labels rarely see a dime as it is, and as for small labels and independents, they won’t either. But I have no doubt that Warner, Universal and whoever else thinks this is a great idea will have no trouble lobbying congress to make it happen if they’re sufficiently motivated.

Hopefully, however, that won’t happen. Hopefully we won’t legalize theft. And hopefully we won’t screw the small players in the process of dealing with an acknowledged problem that has no easy answers.