[cc-community] Strayform - where artists and fans connect to fund and distribute new creative works

maiki maiki at interi.org
Thu Jun 7 15:33:32 EDT 2007


I would like to disclaim that I like the idea of payment and  
involvement in the creation process. In my mind it decentralizes a  
patron-ship, and that is a system that I would want to be a part of.


> What C says about piracy is exactly what I am talking
> about.  Payment should be made for creation and no charge
> should be taken for distribution since it can be
> accomplished costlessly.
>

How can distribution be costless? Bandwidth and disk space come to  
mind. Granted, this already takes place in a large part of the  
current music distribution, it is on the back of media coverage which  
provides people with information about music releases. In the  
"traditional" scenario, a person has a physical place—even online  
music retailers—that they can go to for a directory of available  
music. This is an information cost, and I think that is part of the  
total cost of distribution

I am not sure how this works in Strayform's concept, but I think it  
is important to take that into account when budgeting for one's music  
career (I hate to make it sound un-magical). I would love to discuss  
this more, especially because I know I haven't covered all the bases.

> As for the CD as art and cultural memorabilia, I find the
> cd as a storage and distribution device is unecassary and
> outdated.  Strayform allows for the commissioning and
> production of any digital media.  So for those artist and
> fans who find that important artwork and other
> supplementaries can be included in Proposals.  Our
> upcomming merchandising system will also allow for artists
> to sell physical items such as t-shirts, cds, autographed
> instruments etc...
>

I am on the fence with CD distribution. I never collected LPs, though  
I do understand the otaku nature in such endeavors. However, CDs are  
an important part of the storage issue for me. I have read in  
different places that consumers tend to buy haphazardly and in  
bursts. That is to say, they buy tracks from different CDs (if that  
option is available) and many tracks at once with a break in-between.  
It would bug me to burn backups of this.

Two things, firstly, it is entirely possible that this would not be  
the case for a services such as Strayform and its kin. When the  
"power" dynamic is changed consumption follows (at least we hope so,  
right?). Secondly, This is a personal issue for me, partly because I  
do backups. Some people don't, with all that entails. When a person's  
computer goes *kerplunk*, what will they have to do? I think this  
also adds to the cost of distribution.

maiki



More information about the cc-community mailing list