Have had an epiphany.
Quickly putting it down.
What is the principle argument against piracy?
That there is a value attached to making, facilitating, or selling content, more than the content itself. And that that value is monetary, honorary, and any of the many other ways of motivation for creation.
What is the principle argument for piracy?
Content is paramount. Distribution of content is paramount. That it reaches who is benefited by it, the target market, THAT is important.
Who makes it is not that important. His money, his satisfaction, his rewards, secondary to the customer’s (the target market, the fucker downloading the torrent) rewards.
A kind of a foolish argument or thought process, because if the maker of content is not important (and the maker has a fragile ego or is broke or is Stannis Baratheon), the content wouldn’t be made. And if it is not made, nothing is distributed. You get the drift.
But you know what I am saying.
Customer is king? His needs always more important than yours? That is basic gospel, right? I mean, I know no one practices it, but that is gospel, right?
Wait, you don’t mean to say you don’t believe in it.
GASP.
<30 second silence>
It is gospel. In an ideal world, customer would be the king. It should always be a buyer’s market.
But, your need is more than the need for creation? What should you do?
You should be part of the content you create. An indelible part, an unmistakable stamp. By blending yourself into your content. Be gonzo. Breathe gonzo.
Gonzo creation is a style of creation that is written/created without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story via a first-person narrative.
Show us what you see.
It is not something that you have to do per se. Just keep doing your job. What you anyway do. Forgetting everything about trying to give the consumer what they want. Create what you want to create.
Which is what George Carlin is saying at 02:55 here,
“I realize that these artists are using their talents to project their feelings and ideas, not just please people”
Isn’t that a beautiful thought. To be just what you are. To do what you do without worrying about pleasing people, without learning theories of marketing and not really applying them.
Let the consumer come to you.
And he will come.
No matter how weird you think is what you do. No matter even if you think you are the niche of niches. And you don’t have to pretend to be something else, something that the consumer wants, something that is popular. Because the consumer likes you for being YOU.
Remember Kolaveri? (Could they have benefited more from say, selling say 50% more albums than the highest selling tamil album ever? How do you compare that goal to what Kolaveri has achieved now? How do you set this goal? That IS the problem. You can’t. You have to trust the process.)
Just connect yourself into the greater consciousness of the billions of blinking torrents. It might feel very counter intuitive.
How could you benefit from giving away something for free?
It is a little like Indiana Jones and the Leap of Faith.
“Only in the leap from the lion’s head will he prove his worth.”
It is what Miyan Khusrou is saying is saying about love,
Khusrau darya prem ka, ulti wa ki dhaar,
Jo utra so doob gaya, jo dooba so paar.
Oh Khusrau, the river of love
Runs in strange directions.
One who jumps into it drowns,
And one who drowns, gets across.
All your hopes, all your motivations, all your desires would come from it. Trust the process.
Of course, the inadequacies of the content cannot be blamed on to the process. One should be careful there.
Piracy will never be eradicated. Piracy isn’t what it is because it is a financial phenomenon. It is not a means of saving money, swindling, cheating, or leeching (though like in all other areas of life, there is a certain percentage of each of those as well).
It is a way of life for the digital hippie generation.
Plug in. Or be left out.
Unless your book, movie, blah de blah content is a torrent being seeded somewhere, you’ve not made an impression on this generation yet. And I would put my neck out and say, not half as much the money you could have made.
Torrents multiply your reach. Like no PR agency ever can.
You must believe boy, you must believe!
Update Dec 13th:
“The guy who uploaded the new Louis CK video on The Pirate Bay” on Reddit. http://t.co/Tu70UUGu. Context: http://t.co/W89Xa4CZ #WOW
Louis CK statement (read the 13th Dec one as well)
Hits 1 million $ in revenue in 12 days. BIG BIG news. http://goo.gl/kubgf
Gonzo 