Grateful Dead’s John Perry Barlow’s Expert Report

Posted by Aaron Dulles and Debbie Rosenbaum

It is with grate excitement that we present John Perry Barlow’s expert report. Of the universe of opinions on the recording industry and possible defenses available for Joel, we find his increasingly compelling.

Barlow is a co-founder of the Electronic Freedom Foundation. He’s also a Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. But he’s also a musician – a former song writer for the Grateful Dead, actually. His experiences with the Dead give him a couple important insights which may well carry with them the wisdom necessary to bring the music business into the present…

• We as humans absolutely require music.
• In the music business, familiarity creates value, not scarcity.

The first may be a great comfort to the RIAA. If music is a human necessity, does this mean that no matter the law and technology of the day, there will always be a way for recording companies to make money? Frankly, it doesn’t stretch my imagination much to believe so. The second assertion has certainly played well for the Dead, a band famous for allowing fans to tape their shows. Perhaps it undercuts assertions that file-sharers actually cause market damage to the record labels, too.

Beyond these assertions, he says one thing which I can’t help but believe will be the undisputed truth in 50 years. Barlow asserts that the recording industry, slow to adapt to the changing world, is basically attempting to have the government institutionalize their stagnant and aging business models through the tools of legislation and litigation. This is the familiar buggy whip argument. If your business is in mass-produced CDs to be sold at CD stores where teenagers shell out $15 for a jewel case, you’re out of luck – the world has no need for you. I find this quite compelling. We need music – we’ll pay for it, even, if there’s some convenience associated with it – but we don’t need CDs. Increasingly, we don’t event want CDs.  In light of this, I find in fascinating / hilarious too note that the RIAA quite a gem on their website, a link titled “The CD: A Better Value Than Ever”.

Expect more from musicians eager to see their business catch up with the rest of the world!  We have more stuff in the works.