于蔓
2019年7月《經(jīng)濟學人》發(fā)表了“音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)與經(jīng)濟學如何相互揭示”的文章,本文作者對該文進行了點評。以下是原文概述。
音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展如何揭示經(jīng)濟學力量?奧巴馬任期內(nèi)的經(jīng)濟顧問委員會主席艾倫·克魯格(Alan Krueger)在《搖滾經(jīng)濟學》( Rockonomics)一書中回答了這些問題。正如書名所示,《搖滾經(jīng)濟學》意在用一段段吉他獨奏,向2005年出版的暢銷書、通俗經(jīng)濟學故事集《魔鬼經(jīng)濟學》(Freakonomics)致敬??唆敻裾J為,音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)的經(jīng)濟學研究意義重大。
首先,它揭示了音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)的運作方式,盡管音樂在許多人的生活中扮演著重要角色,但人們對其運作方式普遍存在誤解。同時,它也提供了一個信息豐富的早期案例顯示一個行業(yè)如何應(yīng)對數(shù)字化革命的顛覆。
克魯格對音樂的熱愛表露無遺,他剖析了音樂行業(yè)的財務(wù)狀況,以及它愈演愈烈的“贏家通吃”特性。例如,今天5%的頂尖藝人拿走了音樂演出總收入的85%;其中1%的頂級藝人拿走了收入的60%。他觀察唱片和巡演收入的變化、流媒體的商業(yè)模式、合同運作方式,以及積極參析音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)的發(fā)展方向。
W hat the music industry reveals about economics, and vice versa.
What can music tickets tell you about supply and demand, and the working of secondary markets? How do operas in early 19th-century Italy provide a natural experiment in the impact of copyright law on creativity? And how do the finances of a global concert tour illustrate Baumols cost disease? These are the sorts of questions that Alan Krueger, a chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Barack Obama, answers in"Rockonomics".
The economics of the music industry matter for several reasons, Mr Krueger argues. For a start, they illuminate how the business works, which is widely misunderstood, despite the role of music in many peoples lives. They provide an early and informative example of an industry coping with digital disruption. But Mr Krueger dreams that his inquiry might attest to the value of the discipline of economics itself, and help restore its reputation with both the public and policymakers. "A broader audience might be willing-even eager-to listen if the story of the economic forces disrupting our world is told through the prism of the music industry, " he writes.
Mr Kruegers love of music shines through as he anatomises the industrys finances and its increasingly "winner takes all" nature. Today the top 5% of performers claim 85% of concert revenue, for example, and the top 1% take 60%. He looks at how recording and touring revenues have changed, the business model of streaming, how contracts work and whether political activism makes business sense for artists. He analyses why tickets are usually underpriced-and how Taylor Swift(pictured), Jay-Z and others have pioneered"slow ticketing", whereby tickets are released gradually, so shows do not sell out straight away.
He also provides much wonkish detail on radio royalties and the evolution of copyright law. (It turns out that the number and quality of new operas increased in the parts of Italy where Napoleon imposed French copyright law; Rossini and Verdi were among the beneficiaries) He notes that William Baumol used the example of a string quartet when formulating his "cost disease" theory about the relationship between prices and productivity. A detailed analysis of the peculiarities of the Chinese music market is followed by a nod towards behavioural economics and musics impact on happiness. There are also interviews with solo artists, bands and music executives.
Because it focuses on a single field, "Rockonomics" lacks the variety of"Freakonomics". Despite its aspirations, the book is more effective at using economics to explain the music industry than vice versa. For readers with a budding interest in economics, other tomes will prove a more effective gateway drug. But for anyone thinking of entering the music industry, or working in it already, "Rockonomics" is an eye-opening and entertaining read.
美國的音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)以工業(yè)化發(fā)展形成規(guī)?;?,中國的音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)則更加商業(yè)與娛樂化。但無論如何,在工業(yè)化以及互聯(lián)網(wǎng)化的時代背景下,都難以顛覆“贏家通吃”的壟斷性格局。而數(shù)字經(jīng)濟的出現(xiàn),將如何改變這一格局?
新一代金融體系以及數(shù)字經(jīng)濟模型的誕生
前不久Facebook發(fā)布的Libra成為全球金融行業(yè)以及互聯(lián)網(wǎng)領(lǐng)域的熱點話題,這無疑預(yù)示著證券金融之后的新一代金融體系——數(shù)字金融的誕生,以及在數(shù)字經(jīng)濟背景下,經(jīng)濟模式以及商業(yè)模式即將革新。數(shù)字經(jīng)濟除了在支付、價值存儲等本身金融領(lǐng)域的運用之外,內(nèi)容相關(guān)產(chǎn)業(yè)將是最佳以及最先落地的應(yīng)用場景,而音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)恰逢其中。
如何理解數(shù)字經(jīng)濟模式下的運行原理?數(shù)字經(jīng)濟的實現(xiàn)可能性來自于區(qū)塊鏈(Block Chain)分布式存儲、點對點傳輸、不可篡改的技術(shù)支持,這意味著首先從數(shù)據(jù)存儲、數(shù)據(jù)服務(wù)的層面“中心化”格局將被打破。
以音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)為例:
第一,音樂內(nèi)容可以不再依賴巨頭中心化存儲的方式,所有行業(yè)的愛好者、參與者、消費者未來都有可能參與到上游產(chǎn)業(yè)鏈的運轉(zhuǎn)之中。隨著IPv6的推演、5G的落地,分布式存儲將進一步得到推進,也許在未來,音樂的消費者也可以提供相關(guān)的存儲、算力服務(wù),分割巨頭大數(shù)據(jù)云服務(wù)壟斷下的利潤。
第二,音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)的投資方式也可從巨頭包裝、用戶付費的單一模式變成用戶參與投資,成為內(nèi)容、作品、藝人的股東,而最終在產(chǎn)生的收益里分紅。例如,音樂公司可以計算出為藝人出一張唱片、開一場演唱會所需要花費的成本,進而通過音樂通證(Token),粉絲可參與其中進行投資,最終在唱片收益、演唱會收益中得到相應(yīng)比例的分紅。這是因為,數(shù)字經(jīng)濟模型通過去中心化的數(shù)據(jù)存儲傳輸方式,可以完全將每個人的貢獻值顆粒化,所有的貢獻、行為都可記錄在區(qū)塊鏈的智能合約協(xié)議里,不被篡改。原來巨頭壟斷的投資方式也可被打散,通過數(shù)字經(jīng)濟通證(Token)的商業(yè)模式,讓更多投資者進入,實現(xiàn)幣股同權(quán)。
未來,投資者、參與者、消費者的身份界限將越來越模糊,連接將越來越廣泛、越來越緊密,每個人都可以在數(shù)字經(jīng)濟的世界里擁有多重身份,實現(xiàn)多重價值。
更加公平高效的商業(yè)模式
工業(yè)與互聯(lián)網(wǎng)時代,都是中心化的數(shù)據(jù)處理方式,比如內(nèi)容產(chǎn)業(yè)平臺,由中心化平臺統(tǒng)一采買流量。而未來數(shù)字經(jīng)濟時代,將可能實現(xiàn)去中心化的流量采買、存儲共享、算力分發(fā)。消費者的智能硬件等設(shè)備很可能在新一代技術(shù)的支持下,提供流量帶寬,相比中心化的分發(fā)壟斷模式,成本更低,生產(chǎn)資料的運行方式也將得到改變。而平臺只需要做連接、運營維護,從很重的管理運營模式變成很輕的服務(wù)模式。
“5G+數(shù)字經(jīng)濟”為內(nèi)容產(chǎn)業(yè)帶來顛覆式革新
你的移動端設(shè)備下載任何音樂電影,將不再看到進度條,即便是藍光高清電影,也極有可能在秒速之內(nèi)完成下載。而全新的存儲共享、算力分發(fā)的運轉(zhuǎn)方式,也許在未來會大大提升商業(yè)世界的運轉(zhuǎn)效率。了解了5G的原理,會發(fā)現(xiàn)它與數(shù)字經(jīng)濟分布式的技術(shù)和思想異曲同工。4G是偏向于中心化的,就算我們在同一個球場,你坐在我旁邊,我要給你發(fā)一條信息,依然得先傳輸?shù)竭b遠的信號塔之后再傳輸?shù)侥愕氖謾C端。5G呢?5G信號源將像蜂窩狀一樣分布在各個角落,這種布局和天然的數(shù)字經(jīng)濟模型方向如出一轍。
高速運轉(zhuǎn)的移動互聯(lián)網(wǎng),全世界逐漸萬物互聯(lián),必將倒逼世界產(chǎn)生更高效更便捷的金融支付體系,以及更公平的商業(yè)模式,以配合世界經(jīng)濟的運轉(zhuǎn)速度。數(shù)字經(jīng)濟是時代發(fā)展的產(chǎn)物,是不可逆的趨勢,也必將為音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)的數(shù)字化進程提供不可或缺的經(jīng)濟力量。