Earlier this week I wrote another criticism of the plan set forth by Jim Griffin and the ISP based file-sharing service that is being developed by his company, Choruss (see Dear Jim Griffin (and the Scoundrels of Choruss)). If you followed the comments on the post or my twitter feed, you probably noticed that Mr.Griffin was very quick to respond to my criticism and extended an offer to meet to discuss Choruss. I was quick to accept this invitation and about 24 hours after my original post went up, we were sitting down at the lovely Mexico Lindo restaurant on Manhattan’s East Side discussing my concerns with the Choruss plan.

After a lengthy discussion with Mr.Griffin, I still believe that the ISP-based file-sharing system being developed by Choruss has some pretty big questions that need to be answered and I am still very skeptical about the chances for long-term success with Choruss.  Mr.Griffin is well-aware of the issues that exist with his plan and strongly believes the only way to get the answers that are needed is by experimenting with this service on the campuses of colleges and universities who wish to participate.

One principle of this plan, which was not made clear to me earlier, and certainly eases much of my concern is that it will be an opt-in service for students, rather than another charge automatically incurred in their tuition.  If this is truly the case, I will not stand in opposition to a voluntary research project, as I believe that even if it were to fail, the information gathered and conclusions that could be drawn from such information will be valuable as we move forward in restructuring this industry.

Ultimately, the students at the schools that implement the service will decide whether or not this is a system that is going to work.  I have a lot of faith in America’s college students and believe that if they feel what they’re paying for isn’t worth the money, they will be quick to make this clear. If this experiment leads to a break-through that will prove me wrong; I have no problem with that and will gladly insert my foot in my mouth as we all reap the benefits of a more prosperous industry.

Jim Griffin is definitely one of the good guys in this battle to bring the music industry into the 21st century. He’s got an impressive background in embracing new technology and is just as critical as the rest of us about the mistakes record labels have made in the digital age. I walked away from our meeting believing that he truly believes in what his company is developing and does not have any sort of evil agenda up his sleeve.

I’m looking forward to learning more about Choruss and what Mr.Griffin and his team are working on and will certainly take him up on his invitation to come check out their office and meet some of the other people who are working on this project.

This experience has been very inspiring to me, as I am beginning to gain hope that we can conquer the digital divide of the music industry as we continue to develop new ideas and share these innovations with our peers. I’m grateful that Mr.Griffin did not take my criticism personally and applaud his willingness to discuss my concerns.

This was also a great example of the power of citizen journalism and proves how influential these blogs can be in producing effective results.

All Photos Courtesy of George for GWIZY.COM

Dear Mr.Griffin,

In December, I learned about the efforts of your company, Choruss, to offer blanket licenses to colleges and universities as part of an experimental program involving a surcharge on users who share files. This surcharge would be monitored and paid by the users’ internet service provider (ISP). After reviewing your company’s strategy and reading about how you plan to launch this file sharing program, I concluded that your scheme is more an attempt to pick the pockets of America’s college students than a viable solution to the inherent compensation problem that it seeks to alleviate (see Record Labels Hungry for Students’ Tutition Dollars).

Press coverage of your company’s license program cooled down for a while, that is until you recently addressed the Digital Music Forum East to answer some of the questions that had been raised about your ISP experiment. You started your address by describing the grim reality of the current music industry. I noticed you referred to the current industry as “a tip jar,” a cliche at this point, but you needed to get your point across. You needed to demonstrate how low the music industry has gone. You needed to get people worried.

I can definitely relate to your message and have recently written a series of articles that are intended to stir public interest in the problems facing the music industry. The difference between you and me, however, lies in our motivations. I want the public to encourage the record labels to embrace technology and change their business models. You, on the other hand, want to create panic that will stress a sense of urgency to your proposed partners. You want these partners to stress this same sense of urgency to those who will take part in your experiment. To that end, you have found in the administrators of colleges and universities partners who are apparently just as morally bankrupt and predatory as the record industry you represent.

During your address you responded directly to a criticism from Billboard that read: “To understand what’s wrong with this model, use your imagination”, your response was:

Let’s be clear at the outset: Choruss is a learning experiment, a test. The universities with whom we are working have two motivations: They want to do the right thing, and they are interested in research in this area. Research into incentives, behavior, network analysis, music marketing and more. We are working with professors and chancellors and provosts, university attorneys, IT departments and their public policy advocates.

We are learning about network music fee approaches, and so we will seek to implement different approaches at different campus networks. We do not pretend to know the answers, but we are certain that now is the time for experimentation and learning cannot come fast enough. The colleges have been asking to do this for years, and some, like Penn State, have been doing something similar for years, so it’s time we met them halfway.

Now allow me to quote from my original criticism of the Chrouss plan:

It should not be the responsibility of students to keep record labels afloat while they tinker with different ideas to make them profitable again.

Mr.Griffin, it seems apparent that you are not in a position to make the claim that by implementing this experimental program on any college campus it would do anything more than steal money from America’s college students, who are in no position to fund such a poor experiment. Furthermore, a system that establishes colleges and universities as collection agencies for record labels is not only a flawed business model for the music industry, but also raises serious questions about the priorities of the people running our institutions of higher learning.

Rather than continue to attack your business plan, I’m drawing a line in the sand. If you and your associates continue to push the Choruss service on campus, I will use the power of my blog to organize students to oppose your service at each and every school that you are able to bamboozle. I will educate student groups about why your plan will fail and will help them organize efforts to openly oppose Choruss on their campuses.

I’m not far removed from college myself and if there’s one thing I know has not changed it is this: college students love to fight for a cause. I think the idea of Choruss pillaging their tuition dollars will be a cause many would love to fight. Students will boycott all major labels that stand to profit from Chrouss, starting with your employer, Warner Music Group (lucky break for Universal for not supporting Chorrus). Your “experiment” will potentially suck more money out of the record industry than it will ever gain, particularly if litigation arises.

Somebody has to take a stand on the predatory nature of your plan to stick college students with the bill for a failed industry. Since I have a stake in the future of the music business, I am willing to take this on. This may seem like a David and Goliath fight, but this is the age of the internet where one voice properly directed can have an enormous reach. And while your intention, Mr. Griffin, is to diminish the role of the internet, I, on the other hand, understand there are no limits to the how the internet can be used. My best work is in online marketing campaigns and I will run one of my best to stop your pillaging of students.

I would like to invite you to review some of my writings on the music industry or even contact me directly if you truly intend to help correct the industry problems that you have outlined. My writings look at other potential business models for fixing a broken music industry, models that actually might work. I can assist you or I can oppose you, but I can’t allow you to use college students as lab rats in your senseless experiment.

Sincerely,

DJ Xplosive