Edgar Bronfman; scion of a bootlegging fortune, would-be media mogul, serial idiot. I won't call him Mr. Bronfman, that title is reserved for his father, who I respect. By all accounts, Edgar is a nice guy. But he's an unfortunately bone-headed businessman. He has made tons of money for various partners over the years, but managed to destroy billions of his own family's wealth. The sad tale is too long and complex to list here. You can look it up if you like. He also looks uncomfortably like Seth Green playing a billionaire.
Edgar has made headlines in the past for peevish statements that betray fundamental misunderstanding of the entertainment and technology industries. For example, he famously whined about the iPod: "We are selling our songs through iPod, but we don’t have a share of iPod’s revenue. We want to share in those revenue streams. We have to get out of the mindset that our content has promotional value only." I would have liked to be there when Steve Jobs heard that. That's like McDonald's demanding a share of GM's revenue because drive-thrus make automobiles more valuable.
Techdirt reports that Edgar is at it again. This time, he's upset about the phenomenally successful Guitar Hero and Rock Band games. These games have invented a new mini-industry. Bands are clamouring to get in. Its better than advertising because the customers get really engaged with your music. They can even buy MP3s through an embedded online store. And the game companys pay you to include your music. Bands are enthusiastic. Metallica is releasing its new album via Guitar Hero the same day it goes on sale at retail.
But that's not good enough for Edgar. He said, "The amount being paid to the music industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content we own and control, is far too small." Or what? Warner will pull its artists? I think Edgar is getting a bunch of STFU memos from his artists today.
Techdirt sums it up nicely:
The industry simply assumes that, if something makes use of their content, all of the value is in the content. That's incorrect. Yes, the content is a part of the value, but it's the game that's making that content valuable. [snip] Until the recording industry recognizes that this isn't a zero sum game, and someone out there promoting your content is helping to make it more valuable, the industry is never going to figure out how to really adapt.The idea of copyright as zero-sum game is fundamental to the problems with intellectual property. This is a powerful point to remember when evaluating any of the numerous policy issues currently on the table. But that's another post.
