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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Benjamin Lukoff <blukoff@alvord.com> |
| Subject | Re: Thank you, Jaimie |
| Date | Sat, 12 May 2007 22:52:31 -0700 (PDT) |
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Of course, it's far harder to outsource and offshore music than it is
Etch-a-Sketch production. I'm all for capitalism--believe me--but I am
also aware of its consequences, and I just think that anyone that thinks
they shouldn't care at all about the livelihoods of those who make the
music they love should be prepared for those consequences.
On Sat, 12 May 2007, Michael Bennett wrote:
> In some respects, this debate is kind of like the debate that goes on about
> Wal-Mart. Most economists will say that Wal-Mart is good for the economy,
> because it offers so many goods at really low prices. This is good for the
> consumer, and that's why it's good for the economy.
>
> But there is a downside to this. To adhere to the low price points,
> Wal-Mart puts a lot of pressure on producers. There was a great New York
> Times article a few years ago about Ohio Arts, the company that makes the
> Etch-a-Sketch. The Etch-a-Sketch factory was in a small Ohio town and was
> really the entire economy for the town. Wal-Mart started selling
> Etch-a-Sketches, setting a low price point. In a couple of years, orders
> exploded. Sounds good, right? But with rising wages and health care costs,
> profits were flat. Ohio Arts asked Wal-Mart if they could raise the retail
> price. Wal-Mart said -- stay at this price, or we won't sell your product.
> The result? They closed down the Ohio factory and moved production to
> China. The small town was devastated.
>
> In some respects, the way musicians are getting squeezed isn't much
> different than workers and companies, as technology and other factors (cheap
> labor pools) skew the market.
>
> Mike Bennett
>
>
>
> Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/mrhonorama
> Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com
> Find out about Chicago shows:
> http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagopopshowreport/
>
>
>
>
>
> >From: Bob Hutton <bobhutton@btinternet.com>
> >Reply-To: audities@smoe.org
> >To: audities@smoe.org
> >Subject: Re: Thank you, Jaimie
> >Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 17:33:51 +0100
> >
> >I get a definite impression (although I can't be certain) that most of the
> >people who agreed with Jaimie's and Adam's viewpoints are aspiring
> >professional musicians or folk who work in the music biz, whereas the few
> >who sided with me are merely consumers.
> >
> >Industry versus the consumer ... who'd have thunk? :-)
> >
> >Me, I'm off to eMusic to use up my monthly downloads on stuff I'd probably
> >never consider purchasing on CD (Clientele & Maplewood most likely). Then
> >at the end of the month I'll be in Liverpool for IPO, watching my mate Bob
> >Kelly's band (Kelly's Heels) rock the Cavern - now there's a guy who I
> >think really deserves to make money with his music.
> >
> >Toodle-pip and Gawd bless you all.
> >
>
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