Before I begin, I’d like to point out that I have absolutely no data whatsoever that might justify anything I’m saying. I’ve not done any research, nor have I undertaken any surveys to determine whether anything written below is justified. What I do have though is common sense, which seems to be lacking from a great many people (though especially those with all the money).
I’d like to talk about the price of digital downloads. I’d especially like to talk about the price of digital downloads on iTunes and how a change in the price would, I reckon, make a much better alternative to illegally downloading whatever you want.
Although this is something I’ve been considering for some time, a recent TED talk I saw on the subject of “Copyright Math” made me consider again just how insanely priced the media we consume is.
Let’s, for a second, take a look at the price of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on iTunes. Perhaps a random choice, but it was a show I used to enjoy and I fancied watching it again. So I popped on over to iTunes to see if the price matched my expectations. It did. But, not in a good way. Each series of this fifteen year-old show was priced at £24.99 (excluding the short first season, which was £19.99). This meant that if I’d wanted to buy all of the shows, it was going to cost me £169.93. That figure is absolutely ludicrous, when you consider that the DVD boxset can be purchased for just £37.97 on Amazon.
This is a show that, unlike new releases, cannot possibly be generating the kinds of revenue which would justify keeping it at such a high price. The draw of a show which is clearly outdated by modern standards cannot be so high that large numbers of people are downloading from iTunes at such wildly inflated prices.
So what possible reason can the distributors have for charging so much? Apple obviously take their cut, but that’s a percentage and not a fixed fee which the distributor would need to meet. And they’re saving huge amounts of cash on the manufacture and distribution of physical discs. All they have to do is simply upload their shows on to iTunes and leave it at that. They no longer have to touch them or even think about having to stop reproduction due to manufacturing limitations. These are shows which can sit permanently on Apple’s servers without anyone worrying about them, and constantly generating funds from sales when the next person moves into the digital world.
As I said earlier, I have no figures. But to my mind, there’s a case for charge the least amount possible for these shows. I would be more than willing to pay £20 to download every season, for example. And I’m quite sure there would be a great many more people willing to pay the same price to download every single episode.
Just as copyright lawyers seemingly do, I’m going to pluck a figure out of the air now. I’m going to suggest that for every one person willing to pay £170 for all of these seasons, there are going to be at least twenty more people willing to pay £20 for them all. I reckon I’m underestimating that too. And given that there is absolutely no effort involved in changing the price to something more reasonable, nor any extra manufacturing costs to consider, I don’t quite understand why it’s not something they’ve introduced.
Perhaps this is distributors trying to save their own skin before it’s too late. After all, who will need to use a distributor when a moviemaker could simply add their own productions straight to iTunes (or their own online presence) and cut out the middle man? Once cinemas go 100% digital, what’s to stop them downloading the movies straight from the producers too? Distributors are now facing a losing battle. Although there is a current market for physical items, this cannot possibly last forever. Especially if the prices of digital downloads were sorted out to make them more reasonable. Eventually, owning a physical item will be something for hardcore devotes only, which is something distributors clearly must be aware of.
So, distributors have to face up to the facts. It is their outdated business models which are leading to an increase in piracy. For every one person willing to pay £170 for all of these seasons, there are twenty more willing to download them illegally. Twenty people who could be persuaded to pay a small fee to own a show which is otherwise sat on Apple’s servers, only generating a profit whenever someone with more money than sense comes along.
Perhaps I am underestimating the business. Perhaps there are hidden issues which I’ve not considered because I’m not aware of them. But from my limited understanding, looking at this issue with what little common sense I have, there are surely better ways for money to be made by the movie industry, which (as a rather fortunate byproduct) would also lead to a rise in consumer satisfaction?
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