Piracy is winning. I know that’s the opposite of most people’s view, after the past year. It’s been one that saw the United States government shutting down Megaupload, and SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA pass or come close to doing so through various governmental bodies. American media conglomerates have tightened their hold on their content; now in many cases we have to wait anywhere from weeks to months for new television episodes or movie releases to appear on Netflix, Redbox, or Hulu.
So how on earth can I say that piracy is winning? I’ll admit there are many steps being taken backwards; Hollywood especially seems determined to force media consumption to work around increasingly outdated business models. But change is taking place in one area, and that’s nothing to be sniffed at. If you’re feeling optimistic, as I often am, you can even call it winning. Piracy is helping increase our access to international media.
Might the next season of Being Human have simultaneous airings in the U.K. and U.S. as well?
Think about it: this year for the first time a new season of Doctor Who debuted in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, on the same day as in the U.K. The rumblings for Misfits season 4 indicate that something similar might happen there as well (though no specific dates have been mentioned for either U.K. or U.S. release yet). Yes, we have to wait longer for shows contracted to air on PBS (Sherlock, Downton Abbey), but that doesn’t diminish how huge the Doctor Who thing is, and the fact that it might, if we’re lucky, become a trendsetter.
British content isn’t the only international media to start making it to our shores in a short span of time. Episodes of many of the biggest Korean dramas appear – subtitled already, no less! – on Hulu within days of their airing in Korea. Sometimes we even get episodes the day after they air in Korea, as fast (and sometimes faster) of a turnaround as we get for American television on Hulu. More than ever before are available; when I first started watching kdramas two years ago Hulu only had about four of them, and now it offers dozens.
We’re even seeing it with movies: the Internet is giving us wider access to international films, and in some cases we’re getting them within a year of their release in their own countries. I’m a trailer addict; I love watching previews of movies on sites like Apple or Yahoo. I’ve been doing this for nearly a decade, and I’ve noticed in the past two years that a ton of the international films for which I see trailers are popping up on streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon. Before, I’d have to trek to an indie theater in a city to see them, or buy the DVD online.
The fact of the matter is: the tide is turning. More media is being made available faster. It might not be Hollywood media, but it’s fantastic content. If you’re just looking for entertainment, there’s a world at your fingertips.
I’d rather watch the best of the content from around the world than fight with Hollywood over all of its television and movies. International media is something different, it’s often of high quality (dispelling the myth that the only good stuff comes out of Hollywood), and through it I’m learning about other cultures, which is awesome. And now, I can find a ton of it for free or for a small fee, right away, online.
One thing should be made clear: I’m not saying that I think international media companies are more forward-thinking than Hollywood. Maybe they are, or maybe they aren’t, but they’re still companies, and their end goal will always be to make money. They’re being free with their content because it gives them a foothold in America.
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Living in a Now now now society we American’s don’t notice our underdeveloped virtue of patience. We typically get movies first, shows first, albums first. I remember when the Avengers came out internationally first before the American premier, I was very anxious to see the movie and talked myself out of downloading a pirated file of it. My reasoning behind not pirating is mostly that the quality of a pirated show or movie or album is going to suck. I also have pretty much convinced myself that the world is cruel and everything has a virus.
One of the few things you can get pirated ahead of time is music because what winds up happening is that the album is sent to stores in advance, an employee of said store takes the album home and uploads it. That is if the album wasn’t uploaded by the band to boost sales, someone working the soundboard, someone working in the factory, someone working in the shipping warehouse, etc. Music is easy. But, the thing about music is that if you wait for the day it’s supposed to come out you have your three options: You can get the physical midnight release if permitted, you can download it at midnight, or you can pick up a copy or download it at your leisure.
When I was writing up the reviews for Doctor Who I had to wait. I had to wait for it to air here in America and then I had to wait later for it to be uploaded to my choice of internet viewing service (I use Amazon, they’re pretty quick on the uploading, my friend uses Zune and still has yet to get the fifth episode). And like I said, waiting sucks.
A friend of mine and text me an hour before the last episode asking if I had seen it. I told her no because it hadn’t aired here yet. She said she pirated it from the UK where it had already aired; she had already seen it.
I was a little offended/annoyed/angry because I was waiting while other people were already talking about it. And I don’t have Tivo or anything that records TV so what if I had missed the episode due to work? I would have to wait (if I didn’t have Amazon) for either a rerun or DVD.
Oftentimes we’ll also see movies hit pay-per-view before it even goes to theaters. This again, is for the tactic of generating word of mouth advertising that will help to boost the sales. Most of the time though, movies get a midnight release and then air several times throughout the day to draw you in at your leisure.
What I think should happen is that movies and TV shows should follow what music is doing: Provide more options.
Give me the option of either waiting for it to air, or downloading it same day as airing via commercial free pay-per-view or with a commercial free season pass. If you go a free route do what Hulu does and inject 2-3 30 second commercials so you can earn your money from investors.
I bring up the commercial investors bit because I understand that that is how you make your money on air and that commercials are part of everyday TV. I also bring it up because I know several people who don’t have cable, just internet and they watch shows buy either Netflix or Hulu on their devices. But such is modern life: we’re moving away from 8-5 jobs and being home and awake until 10. Most people work jobs that don’t have set shifts, that work late, that stay up later or sleep during the day. The TV schedule is outdated and if TV doesn’t realize that then TV will be outdated.
Web only shows or movies like The Guild or Dr. Horrible, prove that you can be a success outside of classic TV because they embrace the modern and digital age. When the episode of The Guild or Husbands air, I can watch it as soon as it goes up, or whenever I have the time. To further support them I can donate, purchase t-shirts and posters, buy DVD versions or even pay for premium content if they’re releasing the main portions for free.
IDK, I think I’m running in circles and have exhausted my point. But, yeah, I think if TV shows embraced same day digital release, be it Hulu with commercials or commercial free season pass, they’d might see the piracy of their content die down without enforcing strict and invasive internet laws.
I agree on all counts. Our culture is definitely must-have, right-away. And when I write that, I start to feel guilty. I feel like we are losing the value of patience, and also, how arrogant are we to demand that we have everything right away? That’s the point I was trying to make with Nodame: it was in theaters in various countries in Asia, then when the DVD came out in Asia the movie made it online, but subtitles in English took even longer, and region-free copies of the DVD’s longer still. And part of me was like: ugh! I can’t believe I have to wait this long, this is ridiculous!
And then I thought, what if I’m a fan in some little country and I only speak my language, and so I have to wait ages for the same, for Hollywood shows? Would I still be so impatient, or does part of me react like that because of my American sense of entitlement? And if I, as an American, am demanding same-day access, would I demand the same for everyone all over the world, do I really realistically believe or expect that to happen?
We are impatient. It’s not like there aren’t other shows or movies I could watch, albums I could listen to, books I could read, that I haven’t experienced before, that I can experience while I’m waiting for something to come out. Maybe I should spend less time online, then I don’t have to worry about being behind the crowd in having seen something.
But also, like you said, I believe that Hollywood is adhering to such an outdated business model, and they just have to change it fast. It’s more than Hollywood, it’s advertising; advertisers will still pay more for a commercial on prime time television than they will for an ad on hulu for the same program. I 100% believe that that will change, that everything is increasingly going to go online, or away from the idea of prime time television, but we’re in that transitional period right now and it SUCKS. I can only hope it will go away and the business model will be changed sooner rather than later, but I’m afraid it won’t be. Sigh.
And yet, like I said, I’m feeling optimistic. Because, if nothing else, as I pointed out, half of the stuff I watch is international and it’s getting easier and easier for me to get that online legally. And I can’t help but, even if it’s stubborn, hoping that such successes might help Hollywood move along a bit faster as well.