Recent articles like this one and this news article raise a very important point about file sharing.  Namely, that people like my good self you are interested new internet business models based on file sharing: are asshats.  In particular, we are thieving, stealing asshats.  Without once again dragging up the rhetoric surrounding this debate let me quote noted singer James Blunt:

“The music business is made up of thousands of jobbing musicians, producers, mixers and engineers creating and shaping popular music and culture, but illegal file-sharing is cutting off the income from their work. Without the revenue from established artists, record labels cannot fund emerging musicians.” Quote taken from here.

I do not wish to argue the case here except to say this: What a load of crap.  The music business is made of layers of people who never make real money and hardly any of them actually get paid.  This has turned me off buying any more music from a mindless twat like James Blunt.  Mind you, I never listened to that soppy crap anyway (I hate that song… prefer Weird Al’s version).  This is what annoys me about his statement: as if he cares.  He is a superstar and does not represent musicians in general.  You want to see the people he is talking about?  Go to the places where these emerging artists are?  Well and truly before piracy artists where getting reamed up the pipes by industry.  Long before, LONG BEFORE Lars Ulrich put another million dollars in the bank.  Heres my key point:

Making music for a living is not a right, it’s a privilege.

You know why?  Most people who write songs, paint paintings, write novels make no money.  James Blunts of this world are far and few between (less than 0.0001% I would argue).  Even the people who appear on independent radio stations make little or no money from their art.  Is this because of piracy?  No, it’s because the industry has extremely high barriers to entry and high competition.  In essence, it’s the perfect business model.  You don’t have to create new talent often, just find a hit from the cream of the crop to support all your failures and presto!  You have a business model.  It reminds me of something I read about the death of the midlist… but that’s another post.

So why did file sharing make me who I am?  Almost all of the papers I read to do my PhD were given to me by others, or shared with me.  Programs I needed but couldn’t afford and so on and so on.   I could have done none of this without file sharing.  But that aside, there is a key element in file sharing that made me who I am and it can be summed up by this word: sharing.  The fundamental human trait that those who are successful fail to remember.  Your fans are paying for your mansions, your clothes, your cars and that ridiculous haircut.  They like your music and pay for it to support you.  In droves!  So why are you turning on them?  Don’t you already have enough?  Emerging artists?  If you believe so much that it’s hurting them why not go and find them and help them by introducing them to your friends in the record industry? In 1960 there was a very high barrier to get in, was this because we listened to the radio?  Bullshit!

In closing my argument (if you can call it that) let me add that file sharing isn’t the real issue.  The issue is: finally we may have an opportunity to create balance in an industry that is horribly one-sided and over compensates popular artists more than any other.  This is critically unfair and needs to change.

I recently took a little time out to see District 9.  Now, I am slow when it comes to the latest trends and usually miss things because I am too busy with my head up my ass (or some equivalent).  Usually I don’t recommend movies because my taste is incredibly different than most.  For instance, I liked the Adventures of Ford Fairlane when I was a kid.  I refuse to watch it now because it may suck.  That said, District 9 is a movie you have to see to believe.  The main reason I liked it so much was not really the social commentary or the special effects but this:  I couldn’t guess what would happen next.

I always spoil movies because I make statements like, ‘you know what’s going to happen…’ then add what I think… and it’s usually right.  I’m no genius, it’s just movies are so predictable these days because filmmakers and movie studios are too focused on audiences and familiarity instead.  Other movies like this are: Blue Velvet, Weekend (Godards one) and to a lesser extent the Usual Suspects.   I love a movie that surprises me!

I was watching this the other day and it’s interesting… is there a reasonable choice here or is it ‘frame’ job?

A short note today about climbing back on the horse.   I was dumping recently about the loss of IS from our Business School.  So now I need to move on to the third part of my three part rant.  How do you climb back on the horse when you fall off?

Don’t climb on for a while: The power of reflection

I think the key thing for most people who have a setback is to take time to think through the failure and ask, “what do I need to learn here?”.  I have learned that by picking a small discipline, that’s ‘fringe’ I was always at risk.   There are many others about that are the same.  The changing flux of social systems means you sometimes have to create new ways of seeing just to survive.  One only has to look at the history of recent trends with e-commerce to know what I mean.

Yet, in failure we can find reflection and that can help us learn.  When we have a setback the best thing to do is find something else to take our mind off things.  This can be helping someone with their problems, taking a course, reading a book, crying (ok that’s a little bit nasty), or simply put: doing anything that stops us from feeling like losers.  The next thing we can do once the pain has subsided enough, is begin to collect the lessons.  Think: what did I learn from that and what could I learn about better in the future?  Why did I do so poorly? Write it down and think about it.  It may help you find clarity and help you fail your way to success.

Don’t judge where you are now based on your present circumstances

The other thing we need to do to climb back on the horse, is not to judge where we are now by the way we are in our present circumstance.  Without revisting all of the cliches, I can say that stuff changes.  In my own life I have had many failures.  However, in each one of these failures, I have learned that you fail most of the time.  I like to think of it this way:   fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, win, fail, fail, win.  If life was continued success, it would be great but just about 3/10 things I try work.  Those that do, often surprise me.  You can’t ‘know’ the market or job or whatever as well as you may think.  People don’t often think the same way… there’s context to consider.

How to get back on the horse

The best way to get back on the horse, is to do this.  Start again.  When you have failed, you have one of two choices… stay down or get up.  What will you do?  Stay there lying on the floor, weeping, moaning, crying… no you have to get up.  Sure as hell it ain’t easy.  I have done it so many times that I am growing sick of it… but if you don’t keep growing you become stagnant and/or worse begin to wither.  Is that what you want?

Now you may be reading this and thinking, ‘great general advice’.  My response is, a seed of a dream is still a start.  It may take years to get back on the horse… but if it’s what you know you should be doing, then you should do it.  You just have to.  It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t sell… being true to your instincts is what matters.  What if you lose it all?  I did.  So what?  I had not much to lose anyway, sure it pissed my wife off!  I can go to my grave knowing I tried, I died and I lived another day.  All you have to do is get up and start thinking, you can do it.  I am not guaranteeing you will win next time either, you probably won’t.   Yet the taste of victory, in all it’s rarity, it’s a great thing.  It feels good to have a win.  I am still waiting for the ‘big one’.  But, I have had so many little wins by going again when I didn’t feel like it, that I felt I could honestly not handle it anymore.   What did I do?  I pissed around for awhile, procrastinated… then I got up and tried and failed again!

One of my life goals was to get into a particular journal.  Twice before I had been told NO (once after three revisions… that sucked ass.  Eventually a time came when I got in and alas I made it!  Now, will I get a payrise from this?  No.  Will I get a new house?  No.  What did I get?  I got what I wanted?  How long did it take? 5 years!  Actually, I told my current employer that I would publish in this journal when I started.  Which was stupid, yet it set the agenda and I did get it.  Sure, it means nothing but something important to me and my co-author.  Yet I did it!  It felt good getting the acceptance letter.  It seems trivial but that letter showed me that if I am willing to try and believe, I can acheive anything I want to.  Even if people and institutions stop supporting me.  You can do it.

Let me encourage you today by saying this: if you died and your greatest desire wasn’t fulfilled would you be sad?  Yes you would!  What if you died trying?  Went down in flames as it were?  Then you died trying, that’s 90% better than what most of us do.  Be the die trying person… I dare you!

If you are out there and you are a father… Happy Fathers Day!

Hope you have or are having a great day!

Despite the on-going endorsement of gurus like Seth Godin, I am still very suspicious about the internet’s ability to be a legitmate place of business.  Now, I am not saying that internet business is failure personified… no I am talking about the lack of proactivity in stopping fraud and moreover the scamming of the general public.

A key point of what I am saying can be traced to companies that thrived during the recent Acai berry and Government Grant fiasco.  I have a theory, some people will go into business with the mindset that making money is paramount… at the expense of ‘ethics’.  It can be very easy to make money online, especially if you want to go to jail (or at least it was until recently).    Here’s where I am wondering why business lacks heart… how can we knowingly sell false promises and false hope to people?  Because of the money.  What differentiates such companies from drug dealers?  I can’t think of a thing.

A common excuse you hear is this: Well I am in business to make money and what customers do with the product (or even if IT ACTUALLY WORKS) is not my problem.  I recently bought a batch of DVD’s online believing them to be genuine, alas they weren’t.  What about Ebay?  What a pathethic sham they have for customer service.  Honestly, you get the same automated email when you are robbed by a greedy dangerous powerseller that you do, when somebody sells you a phone that doesn’t work.  And don’t get me started about Paypal.  They are equally as poor and care LESS about customers than Ebay does. They simply don’t care.  Which brings me to my point:

If we are to build ’successful’ online businesses then we must do so with integrity.   If we plan to sell a service, we must support and completely believe in the product we sell.  The internet holds so much promise, yet we continue to stuff around with important things like customer service.

What can we learn from these things?  Do the opposite of Ebay and Paypal!  Actually be proactive in meeting customer needs.  Be reputable as an online company.  Foster communication, take feedback seriously and most of all: answer your dam emails when they are sent.  We are people, not items on a budget sheet.   You need to help us buy stuff from you, and no matter how much you automate it, you cannot replace human contact.

If you are in online business, please take what I am saying seriously.  Customer service has taken a bashing (especially here in Australia) in the last few years and I for one would love to see a return to better service, better feedback and overall a giant overhaul of 21st Century Business.  After all, it’s the future…. isn’t it?

I think that every now and then that someone comes along who is what we might call a ‘thorny’ character. De Soto, might be put in that class by some people but for me… I admire his practical attitudes and courage, even though I may not agree 100% with his politicals. I would urge you to watch this… there are some interesting points made about global politics and the way in which we can make a difference. That and you can learn about this interesting man.