Articles of the Month

Everlasting Success

In this era where copyrighted material can be distributed by means of technology found inside your home, one wonders if movies and music will return to the point of entertainment, and not making money.

Music, movies, even books are being distributed through the Internet nowadays. You can order everything online, but if you look hard enough, you can find any copyrighted material for free.

New forms of media have emerged on the Internet...MP3, MPG, ASF...they all are compression technologies to distribute music/movies to your front step.

Distribution companies are trying to crack down on these forms of distribution since they have no control over it and they claim that they are losing money from lack of sales. Years ago, I thought the Internet would harm entertainment sales, but I've heard rumour of an increase in sales in some instances.

Then there are the cries from artists who wish that their creative material be distributed by the means that they wish, not having it stolen from them. I'm sure there are a few movie directors/writers who feel the same way.

However, in the business of entertainment, what is the main goal; to make money, or to entertain? Have the songwriters of the world changed ways and only wish to make money off their lyrics, or do they still want to share their songs with the world just to give them that satisfaction? What of the movie makers with grand stories to tell? The greatest stories of all are not sold, but told from generation to generation.

Either way, at this point in the business, I understand that my favourite artist / movie director may not continue to produce some of the greatest works of entertainment without financial aid, so I continue to purchase their merchandise. It would be interesting to find out how many entertainers out there would continue if they made no profit from the process.

It all comes down to how a person measures success... is it how much money it will make, or how long it will stand the test of time?