1 post tagged “government”

I look at problems in our society and think of ways to be rid of them. But a lot of my solutions seem to go back to government intervention. For example:

How do we deal with the problem of digital piracy and the RIAA clogging up our courtrooms? What if we made music free and had a government agency do promotion?

The Department of Culture's Music branch would hire x number of bands a year as subcontractors to perform in government-sponsored venues. It would become an alternative to going out to the movies or seeing a play. Some number of bands will be playing at one particular local venue at predictable, convenient times. Censorship is virtually unnecessary - a band is simply given a rating on their performances before they're presented to the public. A PG-13 performance means only 13 and up are allowed to get tickets. The only rule is "don't break the law on stage." Easy, simple, and ethical.

Advantages of this system:
Local governments would be receiving the lion's share of profits in exchange for advertising the heck out these bands. Public buildings will be updated with performance schedules. Local radio and tv will be required to put up commercials for these performances as part of their broadcasting contracts. That takes care of the big problem bands have starting out - their name will be out there. Second, everyone will know where to go after a concert to get their free mp3s of the bands they just saw - a perfectly legal, government-maintained website.

In fact, the rating system could be supplemented by parents being able to download music before decided whether or not to let kids go see a particular band.

So -
Revenue is generated within a community and stays in that community
Musicians get steady paychecks
Bands get public exposure for when they want to get higher-paid gigs at private venues
People get free music

Of course, there's an issue with taking business and talent away from private venues. For that, there could be a tour program for the most popular bands to travel around to public and private venues. The current system in place would have to be changed considerably, of course.  The two goals of this whole idea are to increase the presence of fine arts in our society, and to solve this whole copyright mess we have on our hands. Music stays free, at it basically is anyway, and artists get paid.

I don't know if people would support this idea, since it technically gives power to the (local) government over music. The thing is, it doesn't really matter who controls it - it's whether or not the controller is adhering to ethical standards.