I largely agree with this comment, and I didn’t mean to say that different intellectual property norms would create more “Beethoven-like” figures critical-acclaim-wise. I more meant to say it would just be very beneficial to consumers. (And I do think music is in a noticeably better state (w/r/t the ease of finding a lot that one really likes) than film or books, though this could be for a number of reasons.)
One reason film may be in a worse state could be that it takes many more people to make a film—one person’s idea/vision almost always has to pass through many more filters. They cost more to make and there is more pressure to make it into something that will be widely successful to recoup those up front investments.
Books I’m not so sure. It seems harder to write a novel to me, but maybe that’s just because music comes more easily to me than writing. It strikes me that it’s a much bigger time commitment to read enough of a novel to decide if you actually like it than it does to listen to a song and do the same. Perhaps this leads to self-publishing not being as viable option. Consumers rely more on filters/gatekeepers because you could spend a lifetime trying to sift through self-published novels and not find many good ones.
Music may have the advantage of being able to be consumed somewhat passively—while driving, working, etc., while movies and books are a more immersive.
More basically, you can consume astronomically more songs in a lifetime than books or movies.
I largely agree with this comment, and I didn’t mean to say that different intellectual property norms would create more “Beethoven-like” figures critical-acclaim-wise. I more meant to say it would just be very beneficial to consumers. (And I do think music is in a noticeably better state (w/r/t the ease of finding a lot that one really likes) than film or books, though this could be for a number of reasons.)
One reason film may be in a worse state could be that it takes many more people to make a film—one person’s idea/vision almost always has to pass through many more filters. They cost more to make and there is more pressure to make it into something that will be widely successful to recoup those up front investments.
Books I’m not so sure. It seems harder to write a novel to me, but maybe that’s just because music comes more easily to me than writing. It strikes me that it’s a much bigger time commitment to read enough of a novel to decide if you actually like it than it does to listen to a song and do the same. Perhaps this leads to self-publishing not being as viable option. Consumers rely more on filters/gatekeepers because you could spend a lifetime trying to sift through self-published novels and not find many good ones.
Music may have the advantage of being able to be consumed somewhat passively—while driving, working, etc., while movies and books are a more immersive.
More basically, you can consume astronomically more songs in a lifetime than books or movies.