I’m fully of the opinion that new media needs to be embraced rather than strangled. This goes for the movie industry, the television industry, print, music, you name it and new models are surfacing which could leave the old guard high and dry. At least if they choose to fight rather than fold.
Everyone remembers Metallica’s stance against Napster, a stance which cost the group many long-standing fans. It also didn’t do a thing to solve the underlying problem of music piracy, just shunting it the the fringes rather than right there in front of the music industry’s face waiting to be used for it benefit.
Embrace Or Die
Online video has garnered a similar reaction from the traditional content creators who want to maintain their monopolies. Which is why Viacom sued Google for $1 billion rather than working with the company to reach a mutually beneficial compromise.
But not everyone is so anti-new media, and it’s these people fighting to embrace the technology and evolving marketplace that look set to benefit the most. Step forward the Monty Python team, those crazy kids (who are now in their sixties) who made the Monty Python’s Flying Circus TV show, and a few very successful but controversial films.
Pirated Monty Python
As is the norm these days, thousands of clips of the show and the films were uploaded to YouTube by people who didn’t have permission to do so. And the Monty Python boy let it go for years too, maybe because of the age of the source material, maybe because they weren’t aware it was on there.
Last November, however, this all changed, with an official Monty Python channel launching on YouTube containing high quality uploads of all the most pirated clips. John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, and Eric Idle even star in the video announcing the channel, although they feign not being happy with the idea of everything being given away for free.
Monty Python Channel
The clips are now available for everyone to watch, with no need for dodgy uploads. Alongside them are adverts for Monty Python products, including the Click-to-buy ads which YouTube unveiled last October in order to make some money.
Boosted Merchandise Sales
So, after two months of Monty Python videos being given away for free on YouTube, what’s the outcome? Ars Technica is reporting that sales of Monty Python DVDs and merchandise has risen massively since the channel began.
This proves that embracing rather than seeking to destroy makes more sense than many traditionalists would like us to believe. It also shows that YouTube’s twin efforts of Click-to-buy adverts and Video ID scheme do have some value when paired in this way.
It helps that the source material is old and not being added to, and this clearly isn’t an option for programmes such as Lost and Heroes. But at least we’re making progress on making Web video an option rather than something akin to a criminal act hated by copyright owners everywhere.
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