How to fix the industry, part 2
Kabitzin’s Version
I had to ask Kabitzin of Sea Slug Team! his take on this “issue” because he’s been doing this forever, and because I’m a fan. It was only natural that he (and probably quite a few other people) would mention fansubbing. It turns out Kabitzin tackled the issue three years ago. I suggest everyone reads that post, because it’s typical Kabitzin: concise but meaty, and very thoughtful, skeptical instead of argumentative. That, however, was a direct reaction to the fansubbing issue, whereas I was hoping to be more forward-looking here. Three years later, we shouldn’t be in the same spot, and it appears that he agrees. So, on with his thoughts:
I have always felt that the industry needs to stop focusing on pointing fingers and start coming up with solutions. I think what you have seen companies do recently with day-of streaming and official subs is a step in the right direction. In America, fansubs built the anime consumer base and to target fansubs before you have a viable solution in place is counter-productive. I think the music industry offers some hints about how to proceed. Once you’ve got services with large selections, reasonable prices, and fast releases then you can really start cracking down on pirates and fansubbers. Until then, all you are doing is decreasing your potential audience.
Well said. The music industry has been slow on the uptake though, and if it takes anime production and licensing companies just as long as the Big Four and the RIAA, we’re in for another few years of the same crap.
The main point I can take away from this is that there are two attitudes you could have.
- “A fansub downloaded is a DVD sale lost.” That is both logically flawed and, frankly, whiny.
- “A fansub downloader is a potential customer.” Now that’s the kind of attitude that makes money.
It’s also the same kind of pioneering thinking that got anime over here to begin with. As Kabitzin mentions, fansubbing created today’s market for anime in America. Music downloading led to the iTunes store. You get the idea.
Next up, that classic argument for the efficiency of a dictatorship.
Some fansubbers can be so lame ;____;
I downloaded the 16th episode of SOUL EATER thinking someone got pregnant
“A fansub downloaded is a DVD sale lost.” That is both logically flawed and, frankly, whiny.
There are different types of anime fans/consumers out there, and for some types of consumers, companies take this stance because it holds true. Some people may not realize how prevalent streaming sites are, but it’s safe to say that they are now part of mainstream media. Within that mainstream, companies found that majority of American anime consumers that bought DVDs and liked dubs. This is the reason why anime was at first very successful in the U.S.: distributors put their money on logistics so that regular consumers could find anime in their local BestBuy and Musicland stores. A small fraction of the mainstream bought anime this way, but that target audience had more buying power than the combined hardcore anime consumer base. ADV collapsed because they couldn’t market these new titles to the same audiences anymore, most of those just moved to YouTube, since they don’t particularly care about piracy either way; they’re just casual anime fans.
When R1 anime companies made statements regarding piracy, they generalized quite a bit, much like you’re generalizing right now from your end of the debate.
[...] I like the direction that Otou-san is taking with this, as he is surveying others (including some really brilliant and handsome bloggers) about how they feel they would address the problem of fansubbing and piracy. I’m really [...]
Miha is right! Wow, a good comment right off the bat.
[...] industry of the past few days, first defining the problem and putting forth some ideas, then asking famous bloggers for their take on the issue. (As I write this last bit he’s putting the final post or [...]
[...] Kabitzin: Stop scapegoating fansubs and get with the solutions. [...]