[lit-ideas] Re: Arts and the Web
- From: "Steven G. Cameron" <stevecam@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 06 Dec 2004 14:54:29 -0500
**Is any of this of value for either you or me??
/love,
> Artists and musicians are enthusiatic internet users and they believe the
> internet helps them make and sell their work
>
> For the full report, please visit:
> http://www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=142
>
> The first large-scale surveys of the internet's impact on artists and
> musicians reveal that they are embracing the Web as a tool to improve how
> they make, market, and sell their creative works. They eagerly welcome new
> opportunities that are provided by digital technology and the internet.
>
> At the same time, they believe that unauthorized online file sharing is
> wrong and that current copyright laws are appropriate, though there are some
> major divisions among them about what constitutes appropriate copying and
> sharing of digital files. Their overall judgment is that unauthorized online
> file-sharing does not pose a major threat to creative industries: Two-thirds
> of artists say peer-to-peer file sharing poses a minor threat or no threat
> at all to them.
>
> Across the board, among those who are both successful and struggling, the
> artists and musicians we surveyed are more likely to say that the internet
> has made it possible for them to make more money from their art than they
> are to say it has made it harder to protect their work from piracy or
> unlawful use.
>
> Surveys by the Pew Internet & American Life Project show there are 32
> million Americans who consider themselves artists and about 10 million earn
> at least some level of compensation from their performances, songs,
> paintings, videos, creative writing, and other art. The report includes
> special analysis of "Paid Artists," those respondents who are musicians,
> writers and filmmakers and earn some income from their art.
>
> A Project survey in November and December of 2003 finds that substantial
> numbers of these artists use the internet to gain inspiration, build
> community with fans and fellow artists, and pursue new commercial activity.
>
> # 77% of all artists and 83% of all Paid Artists use the internet, compared
> to 63% of the entire adult population.
> # 52% of all online artists and 59% of Paid Online Artists say they get
> ideas and inspiration for their work from searching online.
> # 30% of online artists and 45% of Paid Online Artists say the internet is
> important in helping them create and/or distribute their art.
> # 23% of all online artists and 41% of Paid Online Artists say the internet
> has helped them in their creative pursuits and careers.
> # 3% of all online artists and 6% of Paid Online Artists say the internet
> has had a major deleterious effect on their ability to protect their
> creative works.
>
> "Some in the policy community and in media companies have feared that the
> internet would bring financial Armageddon to musicians and other artists,"
> said Mary Madden, Research Specialist who authored a new report on the Pew
> Internet Project findings. "What we hear from a wide spectrum of artists is
> that, despite the real challenges of protecting work online, the internet
> has opened new ways for them to exercise their imaginations and sell their
> creations. To many, this feels like a new Digital Renaissance rather than
> the end of the world."
>
> These results emerge from a nationally representative survey of 809
> self-identified artists in December 2003. The margin of error is plus or
> minus 4 percentage points.
>
> Artists are divided in their overall assessment about online file sharing:
>
> # 47% of all artists agree with the statement that "file-sharing services
> are bad for artists because they allow people to copy or use an artist's
> work without getting permission or compensating the artist."
> # 43% agree that, "file-sharing services aren't really bad for artists,
> since they help to promote and distribute an artist's work to a broad
> audience."
>
> Some other major findings on copyright and file sharing:
>
> # 52% of all artists and 55% of Paid Artists believe it should be illegal
> for internet users to share unauthorized copies of music and movies over
> file-sharing networks, compared to 37% of all artists and 35% of Paid
> Artists who say it should be legal.
> # 64% of all artists and 67% of Paid Artists think that the copyright owner
> should have complete control over the use of a work.
> # 28% of all artists consider file-sharing to be a major threat to creative
> industries and 30% of Paid Artists say this.
>
> In another part of this research, the Project administered a non-random
> online survey of 2,793 musicians, songwriters and music publishers
> distributed through musician membership organizations that was conducted on
> the Web. Analysis in the report focuses on the 2,755 musicians and
> songwriters in the sample. The sample was self-selecting and not projectable
> onto the entire U.S. population of musicians, but this extensive and
> wide-ranging survey brings thousands of new voices from a broad range of
> experiences and levels of income into the debate about online file-sharing.
>
> The online musicians who responded to our survey have integrated the
> internet deeply into their musical lives and are beginning to take advantage
> of wireless access. The vast majority of these musicians have their own
> website and are selling their music online. Most offer free samples of their
> music on the internet.
>
> "For independent musicians, in particular, this newfound ability to bypass
> traditional distribution outlets and geographic boundaries has been
> liberating," said Lee Rainie, Director of the Project.
>
> Most of these musicians report that the internet has had a positive, if only
> minor, impact on sales. Nearly all of the respondents cited improvements in
> their connections to others in the music community and two out of three
> musicians in our survey note that the internet has had a big effect on
> improving their connections to fans and allowing them to reach a wider
> audience.
>
> The Pew Internet & American Life Project is a non-profit, non-partisan
> organization funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts to assess the social impact
> of the internet.
>
> Please feel free to forward this email alert to colleagues, friends, or
> family members who might be interested in it. If you have received this
> message from a subscriber, you can sign up to receive your own alerts at:
> http://www.pewinternet.org/signup.asp
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