Let's see if this gets any play...

[sen_no_ongaku]

Proposal: Art should be created without the expectation of material compensation.

True or false?

Commonplace attitude or not?



[EDIT: This is not intended to imply that something created for with such an expectation cannot be art, though I may propose that sometime later.]

Comments

Re: while we're on the subject of P2P

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

And you're entitled to that opinion. But going back to the gourmet food idea... it's like saying your first meal at a restaurant should always be free. That's not the way the restaurant business works, and we don't expect it to.

And actually, I decided to buy the art I bought based on a smaller and lower quality digital picture. So your example is exactly what I did (although it wasn't as expensive as an oil painting, well, neither is a CD).

Re: while we're on the subject of P2P

[shgb.livejournal.com]

I've done the same thing (bought an oil painting based on a smaller, and lower quality digital picture). I've also done the same for music... bought a CD based on a smaller, lower quality file (aka MP3).

Just to clarify, when I said 2x2 crop, I meant just a slice, not a shrunk down version. The analogy being to a single track off an album.

Honestly, a comparison of recorded music to gourmet food or theater or original paintings is inherently flawed. With theater or food or other "performance" art, we're paying for the performance. We're paying directly for the material presented to us, which we consume, and which cannot be consumed by others. Once something is recorded, be it a video of a theater performance, an audio recording, or digital photograph of a painting, I think the equation changes dramaticly. Once the reproduction is created, the cost of producing additional copies is marginal, and, obviously, priced as such. At that point, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to be able to try before you buy.

Re: while we're on the subject of P2P

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

And I don't think it's unreasonable for the artist to have the expectation to be paid for the music I choose listen to, even if I end up not liking it. I've made my own choice in this equation, and I understand other people have made theirs differently, and am ok with that.

Re: while we're on the subject of P2P

[sen-no-ongaku.livejournal.com]

Well...to address a more specific point of yours, with the advent a service such as iTunes (I don't know whether other, similar services exist), the expectation is no longer that to purchase one song, you also have to purchase songs you don't know whether or not you'll enjoy.

To address your larger point...I agree that since things such as photographs, music, movies, etc., can be reduced to information and reproduced as such, that our relationship to them is different, both personally and economically. But (as I said in my other comment) the right to sample is not the same as the right to consume.