Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Why Piracy Sustains?

Ans:
The question actually is - 'Why people pay Rs. 200 for sundry items like a cup of coffee, while buy/download pirated material to save as low an amount as Rs. 150?

Here is what I think -
There is 1 thing that makes people sensitive to price, and it is the 'Experience'. I am ready to spend Rs. 100 for a CD of good songs (even Rs. 100 for a song like 'coffee...' which is composed by you). But the thing is that the the distribution sucks. Believe me. I will prefer paying Rs. 50-100 for a VCD/DVD which have been made available by Mosaer-Byer instead of downloading the movie via torrent which might take 12 hrs. But to buy a CD, I have to go [:(] and face a sales-person [:(] who sucks [:(]. He just does not understand 'value' of what he is selling. So, the CD's are just thrown into a box [:(], and the customers are expected to make a 'discovery' of what they want [:O]. Compare this with pirated material. Take e.g. torrents. You can search [:)], you can download samples [:)], you can read comments [:)], check ratings [:)] - and if all THAT satisfies you, you download the item. The factor that the item is free ('stolen', if you please) is, thus, essentially secondary.

It is all about 'experience of buying' - if the experience is good (as in CCD) I am ready to pay Rs. 100 (for 1 cup of coffee). If it is bad (as in most taparis), I decide against paying even Rs. 5 and prefer to go home and make myself a cuppa.

And believe me, for artistes, their time will have more 'value' than your actual creations when you are alive.