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MasPira 09-12-176 |
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The Pirate’s
Dilemma How
Youth Culture is Reinventing Capitalism Matt
Mason Free
Press, 2008, 243 pp. ISBN 978-1-4165-3218-7 |
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Mason is a writer, consultant, and entrepreneur
in New York City. He is an insider to
the underground youth movement and the founding editor of RWD, the U.K.’s
number one urban music magazine and website.
He sorts through the changes brought about by the interface of pop
culture and innovation. He charts the
rise of various youth movements beginning with pirate radio to remix culture. Each chapter crystallizes an idea behind
one of the fringe movements. This is not a book I enjoyed. Mason, who is an enthusiastic insider,
lauds the aspects of the underground urban youth culture that I find most
disturbing: foul language, free sex, drugs, violence, and indiscriminate
rebellion against all norms and forms of authority. The names they take for
themselves, their music, their magazines, and their companies show a complete
disregard for civility. To me it
represents much of what is wrong with our world. For examining how piracy is changing our
economic system, I prefer the book Free
by Chris Anderson. dlm “On our airwaves, in our public spaces, and
through the new layers of digital information that envelop us, pirates are
changing the way we use information, and in fact, the very nature of our
economic system. From radio pirates to
graffiti artists to open-source culture to the remix, the ideas behind youth
cultures have evolved into powerful forces that are changing the world.” “Private owned property, ideas, and
privileges are leaking out into the public domain beyond anyone’s control.”
(3) If digitized property can be infinitely
reproduced and distributed without cost, how can it be protected? This book suggests the pirates might save
the ship. And the answers are in the
youth culture. Youth movements are a
way of communicating alternatives without inciting bloody revolutions. (4,5)
Punk Capitalism is the new set of market
conditions where piracy is the business model. “Youth cultures often embody some
previously invisible, unacknowledged feeling in society and give it an
identity.” (13) “At punk shows, the band and the fans occupy the
same space, as equals. There is no
hierarchy. Everyone is part of the
performance.” (18) Punk fostered the
D.I.Y. (Do it yourself) movement. Everyone could be a producer. Form your own band. [No talent
required. dlm] “Despite their
ideals, many old punks are kept in business by corporate advertisers, doing
the very thing they once rebelled against.” (21) “Punk amplified the idea that nothing else
mattered apart from the will to do it yourself. … Technology is helping the
D.I.Y. mentality realize its full potential.” (26) “The creative individual…is the new
mainstream.” (27) Current ideas from the philosophy of punk rock:
“A pirate is essentially anyone who broadcasts or
copies someone else’s creative property without paying for it or obtaining
permission.” (36) “Piracy transforms the markets it operates in, changing the
way distribution works and forcing companies to be more competitive and
innovative. Pirates don’t just defend
the public domain from corporate control; they also force big business and
government to deliver what we want, when we want it.” (38) Pirates produce 95% of all DVDs sold in
China. The 150 pirate stations on the FM dial in the
United Kingdom have spawned new genres and cultures for decades. Initially the new strains of music are seen
as too risqué for the mainstream but once it reaches a critical mass, pirate
DJs become celebrities and their products are exported worldwide. (44)
“Pirates highlight areas where choice doesn’t exist and demand that it
does…. It is a powerful tool that…can be applied anywhere.” (46) “Once these new ideas are broadcast, they
unavoidably create a Pirate’s Dilemma for others in that market. Should they fight these pirates, or accept
that there is some value in what they are doing, and compete with them?” When pirates do something society finds
useful, it leads to changes in the law that results in progress. A good idea is powerful only if people get behind
it. The pirates win in two ways. Either the laws change or the pirates
become so popular the laws are ignored.
All you need today is a web connection to broadcast to the entire
world. Perhaps one day the media may
be totally conquered by pirates. “A new generation of media consumers has risen
demanding content delivered when they want it, how they want it, and very
much as they want it.” (49) “As bloggers dig deeper and wider, the mainstream
news networks are becoming increasingly shallow.” (50) “In fact, they now have so much power
around the world, they are deciding who gets to run the place.” [a la political campaigns. dlm] What happens when corporations charge so much for
drugs that poor companies can’t afford them?
“When the market fails and democracy is ignored, pirates should step
into the breach. In this case, it was
governments [India, Brazil, Argentina, Thailand, Egypt, and China] in the
developing world who became pill pirates, providing better health care precisely by stealing ideas.”
(63) Three habits of highly effective pirates:
“Remix” is…a conscious process used to innovate
and create by “cutting and pasting.”
This technique has revolutionized the world. “Remixing is about taking something that
already exists and redefining it in your own personal creative space,
reinterpreting someone else’s work your way.” (71) Remix “require you to think of chunks of
the past as building blocks for the future.”
Here is a recipe for remix creativity: · A big idea (a borrowed one is as good as your own) · An idea of who is on your dance floor · A handful of other people’s ideas (chopped up) · A pinch of originality. Note:
Remixing doesn’t necessarily make something better. [Of course, it
doesn’t have to be better to become popular: it might be much worse. dlm] “Like music, fashion is an industry perpetuated
by ideas that come up from youth cultures and are shared and remixed.”
(94) “The way to apply the remix
effectively and fairly for producers and remixers alike is a Pirate’s
Dilemma.” “As many artists and companies embrace this new culture, others are
fighting its rise to protect their intellectual property rights.” (97)
“It’s too late to protest. The
remix has already been here for decades, and those not yet using it soon will
be. …The remix is gradually winning the war….” (101) “Graffiti is the blowback from centuries of
advertising and the privatization of common spaces…. Some call it vandalism, but at its heart
there is art….” (106) Graffiti artists
think they have the same right to use public space as politicians and private
companies. Is graffiti any worse than
a big brand poster? “And graffiti, like punk, is riddled with
contradictions because it is a product of two opposing forces, freely lending
itself to both. For some it is just a
way to be heard, the voice of the invisible….
Some art critics see it as the most important art form of the
twentieth century…. But other people
regard it as a scourge on the landscape….” (110) “…leaving our mark in public is an urge
that people from all walks of life have been unable to resist.” (111) When New York City cleaned up the subway, the
graffiti artists found new territory everywhere above ground, including the
steel shutters of shop fronts, freight trains that went across the country,
highway signs, and many others.
Artists snap pictures of their work and share them on graffiti
websites. Graffiti and advertising are
the same thing, only ads are tolerated and graffiti is not. Some corporations
have taken to doing graffiti themselves. “Culture jamming is the act of
subverting any kind of corporate control, especially advertising.” (127) “Each story in this book is about boundaries
coming down. Punk democratized the
means of production. Pirates ignored
old restrictions on new ideas. We have
seen how useful the remix can be, and how graffiti artists reclaim public
spaces from private interests. All of
these ideas are about sharing and using information in new ways.” “This new system being created from the
ground up is a new kind of open society.
As new economic systems underpinned by sharing begin to outcompete
markets, understanding the Pirate’s Dilemma will become a priority for
nations, organizations, and individuals alike.” (141-42) “Youth culture built the personal computer.”
(143) “The idea behind open-source software is to let others copy, share,
change, and redistribute your software, as long as they agree to do the same
with the new software they create in the process.” (147) “Wikipedia is built entirely by
amateurs. Instead of authority,
Wikipedia embraces a new, decentralized way of working.” “It’s a place where people can edit and
share information.” (148, 49) Many businesses give content away for free
and are making money. [This is the focus of the book Free
by Chris Anderson.] “Systems based on sharing expand the way
information is used, and in doing so expand the market for that information.”
(151) Napster allowed “users to share and exchange vast
quantities of music online—illegally.
Together with MP3 players, which allowed consumers to carry around the
vast amounts of music they had downloaded onto their computers, Napster
changed music history.” (154) “The
internet has given music back to the people….” (155) “As MP3 players converge with other
products, music is becoming a feature of everything we do.” (159) “Movies, video games, magazines, and newspapers
have all suffered losses as they make the transition to business models based
on electronic distribution. The music
industry found out the hard way that resistance is futile. The best way to stop piracy, as Steve Jobs
said, is to compete with it. … The trick is not to fight, but to be the first
to market.” (161) “…it is possible to
manage what you share so it’s a win-win situation for you and others.”
(167) “Hip-hop has dominated youth culture for decades,
and has bred brilliant entrepreneurs who are now among the richest people in
America. It is also increasingly
informing thinkers, politicians, and decision makers as the hip-hop
generation come of age. Keeping it
real and striking a chord with a huge audience is how hip-hop took over, but
keeping it real is a trend bigger than hip-hop…. Today consumers crave reality…. …we thirst for authenticity as never
before. With mass personalization has
come the need for everything to feel more personal.” (174-75) Hip-hop is not a sound, culture, or movement but
an open source system. It evolves
constantly. It is a decentralized
network with self-sufficient hubs on every continent, a model of how
globalization should work. (176) “Rappers don’t just talk about getting money,
they’ve become some of the most versatile businesspeople in America.” “Hip-hop is a game of braggadocio, and
conspicuous consumption is no longer enough to impress. The more you can successfully build and
extend your brand and still manage to keep it real, the more you can
exaggerate your swagger.” “The
business acumen behind hip-hop and the fact that it made entrepreneurship
cool is one of its strongest attributes.”
“Successful rappers have become multinational corporations.” (187-89)
[I’m not sure how the author sees
authenticity in these hip-hop idols that have capitalized on their fame and
become insanely rich promoting products.
Seems to me they are scamming their fans big time. dlm] “Commercial hip-hop is often perceived as nothing
but an empty, misogynistic, violent culture obsessed with hos, bling, and
little else.” But the hip-hop
generation is capable of organizing large protests and has growing political
and social clout, a la Obama campaign.
“Hip-hop mastered the art of the sustainable
sellout through the notion of keeping it real.” (193) [Ah, yes. Just as I said.
dlm] Hip hop megastars are starting charities and
nonprofits just like other multimillionaires.” (193) “Hip-hop power brokers have started to jump
on the world stage.” “The hip-hop generation
may soon be the most powerful constituency since the religious right in
America.” The United Nations included hip-hop in its Millennium Development
Goals. (194) The world has a youth movement everyone can
relate to. It represents rebellion and
a sense of self. (196) At the same time the majority of young
people in North America think rap has too many violent images. “The way many artists evangelize drug
dealing, violence, and the pursuit of money, no matter what the cost, is a
message critics perceive to be damaging.” (197) [duh. dlm] Youth culture … is evolving into a moving
target… New ideas are transmitted
virally. New movements are ephemeral;
most are never more than a blip on the mainstream radar.” Flash mobs are just
one new phenomenon. Nanocultures rise
and fall in months. (206) Memes are
“units of cultural information transferable from one mind to another.” “Whether it’s an idea, MP3 file, or 3-D
printer design, anything can pass through the network, infect us, and take on
a life of its own.” (207) “Youth cultures today are small and loose-knit,
floating on the electronic ether….” (208)
“There isn’t even time to pigeonhole new trends before they disappear.
… Now there is just an infinite tangle of new music arriving daily, available
to us all without leaving the house. … How can anyone make a mark when
everything is eternally lost in the clutter?” (214-15) “Your idea is your currency; what you’re buying
is a few seconds of the viewer’s time, in which you must gain their trust,
entertain or inform them, convince them of your message, and possibly get
them to act on it. But it also has to
be currency for the user; it has to be funny, informative, or somehow
valuable for them to pass on to someone else.” (217) Viral marketing is one of the few efficient ways
through the clutter of advertising.
Customers are now replacing the R&D and marketing
departments! How to create and feed a
virus:
The generation gap has become obsolete! Parents have the same songs on their iPods
as their kids. “Younger generations
will always find a way of rebelling; now it’s being done with media and
technology rather than clothing and music.
The whole shock factor isn’t there.
Rebellion now is about being a bit cleverer.” “Culture and society have become so much
more permissive, that there is a lot less to rebel against.” “Society has embraced the rules of youth
cultures….” “Kids are angry. But I don’t think they know what they are
angry against.” (226) “Everyone now has access to the same spaces and
is jostling for their fifteen minutes of fame. The trouble is these days it last only
fifteen nanoseconds.” (229) “Now we
are all capable of acting like pirates, or being devoured by them.”
(232) “Whenever pirates are adding
value to society, society will always demand that the players compete with
them in the long term. In this case,
the player who competes first will stand a better chance of gaining the
advantage.” “Pirates are taking over
the good ship capitalism…. …they will be the ones that keep it afloat and
propel it forward.” (239) |
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