The article: http://techdirt.com/articles/20070503/012939.shtml
Summary
The article I read is actually a blog from the CEO of a consulting firm called TechDirt. I found some of his ideas interesting, to say the least. The article is a summary of some of his past coments on how to redefine a market by providing resources for free. In the end, the market should actually expand. The industry discussed is the music idustry. The CEO, Mike Masnik suggests making a number of songs from artists free. By offering free music and actually promoting the distribution on free sharing sites (like Bit Torrent etc.), exposure will increase for the artist and in the end, the artist should realize an increase in demand for things that are more in their control, such as concerts and band meets.
Connections
For me, the obvious connection to concepts in our text is scarcity. The music industry realized tremendous profitablity in the past by keeping its resources scarce. Technology has changed that, and Masnik is suggesting that songs should be an abundant resource, like air, readily available and free. The resource isn't actually free in economic terms (production costs and opportunity costs need to be factored in), but is free in price. That removal of price moves songs closer to an abundant resource. The increased exposure should lead to increased demand in other products that the artist provides.
Reflection
It seems more and more artists are giving in to this philosophy. I remember Metallica fighting Napster over copyright infringement just a few years ago. Now bands like Radiohead are offering their whole albums for free. The idea of free distribution works well for the music industry where the product can be segmented fairly easy. Also, the product is intellectual property, and once the song is out in the public domain, it is more readily available for the public. How would this work for the automobile industry? I guess I don't have the vision to redefine the automobile industry.
