You may have seen some of the recent news coverage regarding Prince’s decision to sue YouTube (among many others).  As I understand it, Prince’s basic argument is that his art is being stolen, and as the artist, he deserves to be paid for his art.  The lawsuit apparently started with takedown requests when Prince discovered video from a recent concert had ended up on-line.

But here’s the thing.  Prince’s assumption that the "illegal" videos are somehow leading to a loss of income is a classic example of "black and white" thinking.  It’s almost always stupid to be binary in your thinking (I would say "always" but that would be binary…).

A far better approach would be shades of grey… or if you want to stick with the binary/mathematical analogy, be continuous rather than discrete: there’s a lot of variety between zero and one.

I know I’m not the first to make this point, and this is hardly the first time this kind of legal action.  But this particular example resonated with me.  And since this blog has obviously changed the world on several occasions  (exhibit A, exhibit B), I figured it was worth a shot at explaining to Prince, and the fellows like him, exactly why this is incredibly stupid thinking.

Not only is it stupid, it is costing Prince money.  And here’s why…

My musical tastes are pretty wide ranging.  I even own a Prince album (not telling which one).  I heard he was touring, but my level of interest in his work is not even vaguely high enough for me to buy a concert ticket for $100+.  I don’t like all of his work, but I do think (a) he’s a good musician (technically speaking) and (b) he’s been pretty innovative in his career.

Although my general level of interest is low, I might have checked out a video of a concert just to see what he was up to.  If I had enjoyed it, there’s a good chance I would have listened to his more recent work, or a compilation album.  And that could, if I liked what I heard, have led to to a purchase.

Odds of me buying anything Prince-related after seeing a YouTube video:  1:100.  Odds of me buying anything without the video: exactly and precisely ZERO.

Now let’s pretend I represent "normal" (yeah, I know…).  There are a quadrillion or so folks on the net, of whom at least 42 must be vague Prince fans.  Do the math: 42 times zero, is definitely zero.  42 times a tiny fraction is more than zero.

It’s really just that simple.  I just wish more Artists and the entertainment industry as a whole would wake up and realize this so we can get on with our lives, and maybe buy a lot less of a many many more things…

And as a footnote, I think any time something looks binary, you’re almost definitely looking at it wrong…  But the person that most needs to grasp that concept is definitely not reading this blog…

Categories: Old Posts
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