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The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture Is Reinventing Capitalism
Draws on the insights of an iPod music fan and an IT guru to counsel readers on the social and technological relevance of today's interface between pop culture and innovation, in an account that charts the rise of various youth movements, from pirate radio to remix culture, to track their broader influence on society. 35,000 first printing.
313 pages, Hardcover
First published January 8, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
March 24, 2022
Let me start off by giving a bit of background on the author here. Mason was a pirate DJ in London for years before becoming a contributor to Vice magazine; from his experiences with both, he got an idea of the 'value' piracy adds to society and decided to pen a book about it. Mason writing is engaging, if eclectic at times, and The Pirate's Dilemma is centered upon two main arguments. First, if you business model is being beset by piracy, you have two options-- hire a bunch of lawyers to go after the pirates, or try to compete with the pirates. The first option for Mason is a lose-lose, while the second option is a win-win. The second main argument concerns how 'youth culture' is reinventing capitalism via 'punk capitalists' and fundamentally transforming our economy. His first argument is compelling, the second not so much.
Mason does a nice job here exploring how piracy has shaped our modern world. Most of the entertainment industries today were born of piracy; for example, Hollywood and the major studios went to California to escape the patents on motion pictures held by Edison. When the lawyers would arrive, the 'pirates' would head to Mexico until they left. Basically, without pirates, no Hollywood. We see a similar pattern with cable TV, first branded as pirates. Via these anecdotes, Mason demonstrates how piracy opens up new spaces for creativity and taps markets existing business neglected. A more modern example concerns I-tunes-- e.g., how Apple started selling MP3 files in the face of Napster and other on-line file sharing sites. To compete with music piracy, the music industry first embraced (kicking and screaming I might add) ventures like I-tunes and now we have streaming music companies like Pandora. The actions of pirates reshaped how we enjoy or even obtain our music today.
The key to Mason's arguments here are that the legal system will never eradicate piracy; he likens it to the war on drugs-- a war that cannot be won. So, pirated industries can opt to give the people what they want (e.g., compete with pirates) or fade into history. He makes a compelling case here!
The second thesis concerns how youth culture, via 'punk capitalism' is reshaping our economy for the better. Here, however, Mason is on rather shaky ground. This is a very optimistic story for sure, arguing that people infused with the punk D.I.Y. impetus coupled with altruistic motivations are creating new business models that challenge existing ones. Not surprisingly, he cites Vice magazine, first published by a few people who were sick of mainstream media and now something of a media empire. The publishers of Vice were not so much interested in profits as making a statement/commentary of society and were ecstatic that the venture made enough money to survive.
Mason reminds me of Clay Sharkey, another futurist with an optimistic bent (see Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age). Both paint rather rosy views of the future based upon people all over the world embracing the digital age to create something new and better. Kudos for the optimism, but I am more of a cynic here. A few examples of 'punk capitalists' does not equal a game changer. Still, if you are interested in digital piracy and want a book that spins it in positive light, you might really enjoy this. 4 stars!!
Mason does a nice job here exploring how piracy has shaped our modern world. Most of the entertainment industries today were born of piracy; for example, Hollywood and the major studios went to California to escape the patents on motion pictures held by Edison. When the lawyers would arrive, the 'pirates' would head to Mexico until they left. Basically, without pirates, no Hollywood. We see a similar pattern with cable TV, first branded as pirates. Via these anecdotes, Mason demonstrates how piracy opens up new spaces for creativity and taps markets existing business neglected. A more modern example concerns I-tunes-- e.g., how Apple started selling MP3 files in the face of Napster and other on-line file sharing sites. To compete with music piracy, the music industry first embraced (kicking and screaming I might add) ventures like I-tunes and now we have streaming music companies like Pandora. The actions of pirates reshaped how we enjoy or even obtain our music today.
The key to Mason's arguments here are that the legal system will never eradicate piracy; he likens it to the war on drugs-- a war that cannot be won. So, pirated industries can opt to give the people what they want (e.g., compete with pirates) or fade into history. He makes a compelling case here!
The second thesis concerns how youth culture, via 'punk capitalism' is reshaping our economy for the better. Here, however, Mason is on rather shaky ground. This is a very optimistic story for sure, arguing that people infused with the punk D.I.Y. impetus coupled with altruistic motivations are creating new business models that challenge existing ones. Not surprisingly, he cites Vice magazine, first published by a few people who were sick of mainstream media and now something of a media empire. The publishers of Vice were not so much interested in profits as making a statement/commentary of society and were ecstatic that the venture made enough money to survive.
Mason reminds me of Clay Sharkey, another futurist with an optimistic bent (see Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age). Both paint rather rosy views of the future based upon people all over the world embracing the digital age to create something new and better. Kudos for the optimism, but I am more of a cynic here. A few examples of 'punk capitalists' does not equal a game changer. Still, if you are interested in digital piracy and want a book that spins it in positive light, you might really enjoy this. 4 stars!!
July 6, 2008
A good book detailing the rise and fall of youth culture, hip-hop, graffiti, medicine patents, and many other things. Also includes a great analysis of the open-source community and the economic and political motives behind all of it. It's a very music-centric book, linking what we see in the physical world of art with what we are doing online.
This book is available online as a free PDF.
This book is available online as a free PDF.
September 12, 2010
This truly helped establish my feelings on the many benefits of art and the internet, and my feelings on greedy SOB's manipulating the law to stifle future creativity in this world so they can benefit financially.
October 9, 2022
" We live in a new world where things we used to pay for, such as music, movies, and newspapers, are now available for free. But things that used to reproduce for free, such as seeds and pigs, have to be paid for."
Having to read "The Long Tail" by Chris Anderson, "Here Comes Everybody" by Clay Shirky, "Wikinomics" by Don Tapscott, and many other types of economical books that define the internet landscape has given me a sense of immunity to not get excited and a sense of novelty to these kinds of book that explains mass collaboration. Do not get me wrong, it is a good book, a book that elaborates clearly on how culture will be formed in a niche group and targets a specific niche audience with a drastic speed that escalated more quickly than ever we can imagine.
With the cities and nations becoming exponentially more diverse, as migration and urbanization quicken, also with the help of the internet landscape for data-sharing, this openness to new ideas, influences, and people is more important than ever. The wide range of ideas, perspectives, and diverse backgrounds brought together into a platform that is rapidly fusing the young generation with a fresh new idea that is able to leverage the media to spread expeditiously without any marginal costs. Very often that this group of youth generation people is those that tend to be rebellious towards obsolete and rigid old systems. They despised the one-way flow of information typically found in old-school capitalism systems, it seems that ownership of the means of production– the backbone of capitalism–is falling into the hands of the masses.
Matt mason term this bunch of anti-establishment as Pirates in his book. He says: "This is the story of how pirates might save this sinking ship. Often pirates are the first to feel the winds of change blowing. The answer to the Pirate's Dilemma lies in the stories of pirates sailing into waters uncharted by society and the markets, space where traditional rules don't apply." He thinks pirates create positive and economic changes, and understanding piracy today is more important than ever, because now that we all can copy and broadcast whatever we want; we can all become pirates. The individuals with the pirate mentality are using the Web to become journalists, comedians, porn stars, prophets, TV producers, writers, and many other things. With the barrier knocking down to the entry, the only way to stay on top is to offer the best content, most entertaining, and most accurate information. He says: "The pirate mentality is a way to mobilize the communities, drive innovation, and create social change. By thinking like pirates, people grow niche audiences to critical mass and change the mainstream from the bottom up."
However, I find the book joyful to read without too much technical jargon and vocabulary. It is an imperative book to read for those who would like to find out what is "Oppa Gangnam Style", "Meme" and many other forms of niche youth culture that are difficult to comprehend. The internet landscape has changed the way we produce information and consume goods in the economical perspective. Consumers are changing their attitudes toward the products they value. We now live in the "Thank You" economy. As organizations and systems become more and more open and transparent, as the balance of power between consumers and producers is leveled as we become more connected, another important idea is gaining transactions. As we shall now see, it's not enough for new systems to just be connected to their audience; the dialogue between systems needs to be genuine above all else. Our new connections need to be authentic!
March 9, 2012
Solid book laying out the argument for why pirates and youth subcultures from punk & hip hop to open source software developers are all 'Punk Capitalists' reinventing business models and creating new markets and revenue opportunities. Author, Matt Mason makes a compelling argument for openness, collaboration and the value of altruism (vs. self interest) in business and why the best strategy for responding to pirates is to compete with them, not try to shut them down.
Mason is also well versed in music and pop culture laying out some interesting links between a Boston nun whose birthday parties she held for the children in the orphanage she worked at had a direct influence on modern disco and house music and some excellent sections on the history of the remix and why hip hop has had such a sustained impact on youth, pop and business culture without seriously compromising it's own authenticity and credibility. The Pirate's Dilemma is definitely worth reading for anyone in the social media and youth marketing fields.
Mason is also well versed in music and pop culture laying out some interesting links between a Boston nun whose birthday parties she held for the children in the orphanage she worked at had a direct influence on modern disco and house music and some excellent sections on the history of the remix and why hip hop has had such a sustained impact on youth, pop and business culture without seriously compromising it's own authenticity and credibility. The Pirate's Dilemma is definitely worth reading for anyone in the social media and youth marketing fields.
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March 2, 2010ugh. i read this for a book group that i didn't even attend, but i kind of wish i'd been able to, just for a better opportunity to complain about it. there's nothing seriously flawed in his argument here, i just found the whole thing really tiresome. lots of examples of "pirates" changing culture, and lots of SAYING "look man, we need to embrace this" but... i don't know, maybe i'm coming into the conversation to well-informed already, but this book didn't tell me anything that made me stop and think.
August 18, 2013
this book gives us a great perspective of how punk revolution and hip hop brought about newer possibilities of creating new music, new ideas thus impacting social change in a definitive way..... pirates dillema provides greater inisght about how crowdsourcing of content through music remixes, gaming, open software developments, music and movie remixes has stretched the boundaries of innovation questioning the dimensions of ethics and morality in the digital age for the greater good of humanity.......
February 14, 2014
This book is really a great deep study in the nature of innovation born out of youth culture. Beside telling the curious and less known stories behind some of the most influential innovations in culture like the remix, grafitti and punk rock among many others, the author examines how they change society and how capitalism is forced to reshape good working old models in order to keep in pace with the constantly evolving mindset of youth. I recommend it to readers that loved books such as Malcolm Gladwell's "The tipping point" and Levitt's "Freakonomics".
October 17, 2011
I really got a lot out of this book - I would recommend it to anyone who owns or is interested in owning a small business! It had some interesting information and tips on creating a different type of work culture based on youth countercultures (both present day and previous). There was a little too much repetition in many spots, and a couple of editing errors. There were also several interruptions in the flow of thoughts, but still a lot of good ideas on the changing business environment.
October 21, 2008
Interesting read, great for people involved in starting business and in corporate marketing. Kinda outlines the way capitalism and consumerism is moving and has been moving the last couple decades. A good read for those who are in the music industry as well.
September 22, 2009
Very informative and relevant to anyone who works in industries that depend on the internet. Great history and summarization of trends and how companies have reacted, succesfully and not-so-successfully.
May 24, 2017
Overall a good and interesting read. The chapters on Hip Hop and Youth culture lost some of the persuasiveness of the earlier chapters on music and art - at times it seemed like the author stretched to make the facts fit his theme.
The overall question- what do we do to "keep up" with this ever changing consumer landscape as major companies condense into monopolies and consumers have fewer and fewer choices was not satisfactorily answered. The author argues that smaller "pirate" companies acting outside normal boundaries will force the market to change - and that may be true in niche industries like music and art, but less true in other markets - like medicine and education where licensing, credentials, and other consumer protections (which are necessary) make innovation and new business models difficult to implement.
Still, the book was an interesting look at how non-traditional markets and direct interaction between artists and consumers had a direct impact on the growth and change of these industries.
The overall question- what do we do to "keep up" with this ever changing consumer landscape as major companies condense into monopolies and consumers have fewer and fewer choices was not satisfactorily answered. The author argues that smaller "pirate" companies acting outside normal boundaries will force the market to change - and that may be true in niche industries like music and art, but less true in other markets - like medicine and education where licensing, credentials, and other consumer protections (which are necessary) make innovation and new business models difficult to implement.
Still, the book was an interesting look at how non-traditional markets and direct interaction between artists and consumers had a direct impact on the growth and change of these industries.
Read
November 8, 2021Corporations have a choice to make--become pirates or suffer at the hands of pirates. Mason is a music journalist, so he backs up his arguments with anecdotes from the music industry. I didn't expect to end up with a clearer understanding of hip-hop, disco, grime, and underground radio, but unexpectedly I did. I know Mason's thesis does apply and will apply to every industry, it certainly works beautifully with the music industry--I just wish I could more cleanly apply it to publishing.
What this really got me thinking about though is money. How do creatives and the people who orbit creatives (publicists, ahem, for instance) make any money in this new pirate economy? Sure, Marc Ecko and Russell Simmons cashed in--but they're not the rule. And while Mason touches on the fact that Chinese rock stars make money from concerts instead of albums, and that they're not filthy rich--well, that still leaves a lot of creatives out of the equation. How do we pay rent and get health insurance in a pirate economy?
What this really got me thinking about though is money. How do creatives and the people who orbit creatives (publicists, ahem, for instance) make any money in this new pirate economy? Sure, Marc Ecko and Russell Simmons cashed in--but they're not the rule. And while Mason touches on the fact that Chinese rock stars make money from concerts instead of albums, and that they're not filthy rich--well, that still leaves a lot of creatives out of the equation. How do we pay rent and get health insurance in a pirate economy?
May 24, 2018
Full of interesting stories that didn't quite come together to make a compelling argument. The book is more about corporate counter culture since the 1970's but the thesis wants to be about "Pirates" and piracy. With Piracy being such a loaded word, I think that the book would have been much more compelling had it left out piracy all together. Mason wants to make the point that piracy is more like the remix but those two things really aren't all that similar. Piracy can be straight stealing but the remix can provide new ideas and value. Anyways, its worth a read but it isn't really mind blowing. Some good stories, though!
October 24, 2019
About half way through the book, when the author started talking about personal experiences in the music industry, I understood why this book works so much better as a recent history of music instead of what it’s supposed to be about. True, some of this isn’t helped by the fact that the book is already over ten years old and for all IT-related stories, it really shows that this is about a lifetime ago. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that these stories, together with all other brands of modern piracy, occupy only about a quarter of the book. And while it might be very interesting to read about the origins of dub, house and disco, that was not the book I intended to read.
February 10, 2021
Although, this book has a lot to contribute to digital marketing and social visualization of the economy, it has a many flaws. One of them being that it is way too long, you're halfway through the chapter and Mason has already made his point, but he continues to give examples and make the reader bored.
I think you should read this book if you are interested in the viewing the market from another point of view and what could improve the capitalism we now live in.
I think you should read this book if you are interested in the viewing the market from another point of view and what could improve the capitalism we now live in.
January 16, 2018
I loved this when I first read it, but when I went back to it for researching my own book, the content was great, but a lot of the examples felt really dated. Which was telling for a book about change, it sort of further underlined how fast things do change. Still, the central premise and theory is sound and a great read.
September 7, 2017
This is a fair point of view on the issue of piracy, IP and innovation
April 4, 2020
Es un gran acercamiento a la cultura de la piratería y el gran fenómeno que es. A veces se pone demasiado panfletario, fuera de eso me gustó mucho.
August 11, 2008
According to Matt Mason in The Pirate’s Dilemma, “Copyright laws are encroaching on the public domain, but if the history of pirates is anything to go by, such laws are not often observed, become impossible to enforce, and eventually change.” (p. 99)
Okay, folks, get ready for a rather lengthy review of The Pirate’s Dilemma, or rather, a brief review of Matt Mason’s book, followed by a more extended discussion of some of the ideas contained therein as they relate to two recent DC Bar-sponsored programs in conjunction with my current thinking about copyright law. For my fellow pedants, this essay is a logical partner to the April 3 note I called, A Digital Needle in the Haystack: Finding the Good Stuff Online, which considered problems of online plagiarism and provenance as well as the part from my 2/11/08 Kickoff to an odd-thoughts blog, a relevant paragraph of which could easily serve as the synopsis of The Pirate’s Dilemma (and this very post), to wit:
My point here is less to quote myself, than to indicate the emergence of a new zeitgeist from a mere two data points. First, the brief review. Matt Mason’s book is a quick read that offers glib patter (e.g., "DJ Fezzy is getting ready for his set. It’s a cold, dark Christmas Eve in his studio, and the time is coming up to 9:00 p.m. Fezzy has come pre¬pared for a crazy-hot show, packing an arsenal of scripted material, instruments, and records, set to deliver a sonic blast of talk radio and live music. Then he’ll throw down on the wheels of steel," p. 39, referencing the first radio show broadcast in 1906 by Reginald Fessenden), lots of annoying internal hype (e.g., "That is… perhaps the most important economic and cultural question of the twenty-first century," p. 4; “The game has changed,” p. 236), a bunch of fascinating anecdotal examples of “piracy,” and a game theory-inspired model for contemporary business, sans analysis or conclusion. The anecdotes and the initial definition of the dilemma (compete with or try to suppress piracy?) are the book’s strength, and worthy of a couple hours’ browse. The book’s weaknesses preclude a need to read, however, given that much of the text is given over to filibustering platitudes and inconsistent (and therefore largely meaningless) application of the concepts “piracy” (used here to cover a gamut ranging from any crime that can be construed as social protest to any unregulated activity that has market potential, such as the first broadcasts that emerged with the discovery of radio transmission), “punk capitalism” (which ranges from idealistic kids working for love rather than money to do-it-yourself entrepreneurship), and “hip-hop culture” (the vaguest term of all, which Mason applies to everything from “youth culture” or “youth movements” as a whole dating back to the mid-to-late ‘80s to anything involving the combination of pre-existing elements that Mason likes to call remixing irrespective of context, as he uses it freely to reference collage, architectural influence/homage, music sampling, and which extrapolates as well to grade school papers derived from traditional secondary source material).
[The rest of this 21,220 character review can be found in my 'notes' section under the title, Building A Free Society: Toward A More Perfect Copyright Law or on the MuseoTech blog.]
Okay, folks, get ready for a rather lengthy review of The Pirate’s Dilemma, or rather, a brief review of Matt Mason’s book, followed by a more extended discussion of some of the ideas contained therein as they relate to two recent DC Bar-sponsored programs in conjunction with my current thinking about copyright law. For my fellow pedants, this essay is a logical partner to the April 3 note I called, A Digital Needle in the Haystack: Finding the Good Stuff Online, which considered problems of online plagiarism and provenance as well as the part from my 2/11/08 Kickoff to an odd-thoughts blog, a relevant paragraph of which could easily serve as the synopsis of The Pirate’s Dilemma (and this very post), to wit:
So here's my rule in our great goldfish-bowl of a world. If you like anything you see badly enough that you feel it should be copied and spread like gospel (or even perhaps smeared like cream cheese)... go ahead. Take it. Do with it what you will. Just please be sure to credit your original source (that would be me, I believe, as the author here). I make no claims to originality, except in the copyright sense. All my thoughts and work are surely derivative of whatever I've consumed (and the more recent, the more influence on the regurgitation), but at least it's been processed through this man's wetware.
My point here is less to quote myself, than to indicate the emergence of a new zeitgeist from a mere two data points. First, the brief review. Matt Mason’s book is a quick read that offers glib patter (e.g., "DJ Fezzy is getting ready for his set. It’s a cold, dark Christmas Eve in his studio, and the time is coming up to 9:00 p.m. Fezzy has come pre¬pared for a crazy-hot show, packing an arsenal of scripted material, instruments, and records, set to deliver a sonic blast of talk radio and live music. Then he’ll throw down on the wheels of steel," p. 39, referencing the first radio show broadcast in 1906 by Reginald Fessenden), lots of annoying internal hype (e.g., "That is… perhaps the most important economic and cultural question of the twenty-first century," p. 4; “The game has changed,” p. 236), a bunch of fascinating anecdotal examples of “piracy,” and a game theory-inspired model for contemporary business, sans analysis or conclusion. The anecdotes and the initial definition of the dilemma (compete with or try to suppress piracy?) are the book’s strength, and worthy of a couple hours’ browse. The book’s weaknesses preclude a need to read, however, given that much of the text is given over to filibustering platitudes and inconsistent (and therefore largely meaningless) application of the concepts “piracy” (used here to cover a gamut ranging from any crime that can be construed as social protest to any unregulated activity that has market potential, such as the first broadcasts that emerged with the discovery of radio transmission), “punk capitalism” (which ranges from idealistic kids working for love rather than money to do-it-yourself entrepreneurship), and “hip-hop culture” (the vaguest term of all, which Mason applies to everything from “youth culture” or “youth movements” as a whole dating back to the mid-to-late ‘80s to anything involving the combination of pre-existing elements that Mason likes to call remixing irrespective of context, as he uses it freely to reference collage, architectural influence/homage, music sampling, and which extrapolates as well to grade school papers derived from traditional secondary source material).
[The rest of this 21,220 character review can be found in my 'notes' section under the title, Building A Free Society: Toward A More Perfect Copyright Law or on the MuseoTech blog.]
May 28, 2011
I began reading this book because it was a free download on this site. I’m loving my free eBooks for the reasons of both environmental conservation & market freedom, true market freedom, not the kind sprouted by laissez faire economists to benefit the wealthy. I really didn’t expect much from this ‘free’ book.
The first few chapters while interesting seemed to rub me up the wrong way initially, portraying the punk scene as a new free economic force paving the way for the do it yourself freedom to come. While this is the ideal, it obviously didn’t pan out that way unless you were an entrepreneurial genius or simply at the right place, right time. Today is as hard, if not harder to survive the rat race than it was in the ‘70’s. What began to draw me into the book as I continued reading wasn’t the idealism but the culture map it served as while describing the rise of one subculture after another, including Pirate radio scene, DJ Mixers, Hip Hop & culture jammers. All very interesting in context. Mason leaves no stone unturned as he moves through the movements that affected society & either co-opted or subverted main stream culture. As exciting as it all seems though this very cynical punk could only really see the co-opting without a great deal of payback to the community at large in anything more than small culture shifts should you wish to change your hairstyle.
If there was a glimmer of hope in the book it is the chapter discussing Open source technology & the politics of Copyright. Again I had issues with the typical stance of Gates bad, Jobs good as Microsoft drift towards an open source & Freeware compromises while Apple continue to lock down their apps. This naiveté that Apple is somehow still ‘good’ displayed a locked down view of the author. Mason did however brilliantly cover the issues of patenting pharmaceuticals & genes so as to put it in the moral light it needs to be viewed in. He also discussed the economic benefits of true competition that pharmaceutical generics could bring which, as a fresh break from the rock’n’roll which this books framework was hung on, I found he discussed with great clarity.
By the end of the book I was hooked. Mason knew what he was talking about & had a good grasp at articulating the logic behind his ideas. I was let down a little by the fact that only a monetory economic paradigm was discussed, that in the end, it was still about fierce competition & money, albeit he talked about increased philanthropy. There was little discussion about the possibility of a truly free economy as in the post scarcity paradigm which would closely follow the uptake of such technologies as 3D printers but then again, this has only been considered marginally possible over the past couple of years. That’s a long time these days.
The first few chapters while interesting seemed to rub me up the wrong way initially, portraying the punk scene as a new free economic force paving the way for the do it yourself freedom to come. While this is the ideal, it obviously didn’t pan out that way unless you were an entrepreneurial genius or simply at the right place, right time. Today is as hard, if not harder to survive the rat race than it was in the ‘70’s. What began to draw me into the book as I continued reading wasn’t the idealism but the culture map it served as while describing the rise of one subculture after another, including Pirate radio scene, DJ Mixers, Hip Hop & culture jammers. All very interesting in context. Mason leaves no stone unturned as he moves through the movements that affected society & either co-opted or subverted main stream culture. As exciting as it all seems though this very cynical punk could only really see the co-opting without a great deal of payback to the community at large in anything more than small culture shifts should you wish to change your hairstyle.
If there was a glimmer of hope in the book it is the chapter discussing Open source technology & the politics of Copyright. Again I had issues with the typical stance of Gates bad, Jobs good as Microsoft drift towards an open source & Freeware compromises while Apple continue to lock down their apps. This naiveté that Apple is somehow still ‘good’ displayed a locked down view of the author. Mason did however brilliantly cover the issues of patenting pharmaceuticals & genes so as to put it in the moral light it needs to be viewed in. He also discussed the economic benefits of true competition that pharmaceutical generics could bring which, as a fresh break from the rock’n’roll which this books framework was hung on, I found he discussed with great clarity.
By the end of the book I was hooked. Mason knew what he was talking about & had a good grasp at articulating the logic behind his ideas. I was let down a little by the fact that only a monetory economic paradigm was discussed, that in the end, it was still about fierce competition & money, albeit he talked about increased philanthropy. There was little discussion about the possibility of a truly free economy as in the post scarcity paradigm which would closely follow the uptake of such technologies as 3D printers but then again, this has only been considered marginally possible over the past couple of years. That’s a long time these days.
October 9, 2012
This was a fun read with some interesting points, but taken as a whole Mason's argument is a little facile.
Most of the book consists of examples of (generally youth-oriented) subcultures that developed into major commercial or cultural successes. Mason's examples include punk (focusing on its D.I.Y. ethos as an example of the pirate spirit), hip-hop, early disco, etc. All of these subcultures were created and expanded outside of the mainstream before being absorbed or incorporated (some would say co-opted) by it. Mason argues that existing commercial interests ignore or marginalize these movements at their own peril.
Mason's "pirate's dilemma" extends from this, stating that rather than wasting effort trying to stamp out piracy, companies are better off competing with pirates. ("Pirate's Dilemma" is a bit of a misnomer; pirates experience no such dilemma, it's the entrenched commercial interests that) When that happens, society has a whole benefits. Sounds good on the surface.
The problem is that Mason's definition of a "pirate" is incredibly broad. His pirates aren't just those who infringe upon copyright (i.e., how the term is most commonly used today), they're basically anyone who operates outside the established system, or anyone who participates in youth culture. This definition wasn't especially convincing. Mash-up artists and other remix culture participants use existing work to create new material; defining them as "pirates" seems reasonable. However, the early punks described in this book were explicitly about rejecting existing work and building something new. Both mash-up artists and punks are pirates according to Mason, but it seems doubtful that most people would agree with him.
In the end, this is an interesting look about how, as noted in the book's subtitle, youth culture can have a cultural impact and serve as a source of revenue to savvy marketers. It's not, however, a particularly deep or convincing look at piracy. The use of the word piracy acts as a red herring, and deleting the few brief references to copyright infringement would result in a stronger book.
Most of the book consists of examples of (generally youth-oriented) subcultures that developed into major commercial or cultural successes. Mason's examples include punk (focusing on its D.I.Y. ethos as an example of the pirate spirit), hip-hop, early disco, etc. All of these subcultures were created and expanded outside of the mainstream before being absorbed or incorporated (some would say co-opted) by it. Mason argues that existing commercial interests ignore or marginalize these movements at their own peril.
Mason's "pirate's dilemma" extends from this, stating that rather than wasting effort trying to stamp out piracy, companies are better off competing with pirates. ("Pirate's Dilemma" is a bit of a misnomer; pirates experience no such dilemma, it's the entrenched commercial interests that) When that happens, society has a whole benefits. Sounds good on the surface.
The problem is that Mason's definition of a "pirate" is incredibly broad. His pirates aren't just those who infringe upon copyright (i.e., how the term is most commonly used today), they're basically anyone who operates outside the established system, or anyone who participates in youth culture. This definition wasn't especially convincing. Mash-up artists and other remix culture participants use existing work to create new material; defining them as "pirates" seems reasonable. However, the early punks described in this book were explicitly about rejecting existing work and building something new. Both mash-up artists and punks are pirates according to Mason, but it seems doubtful that most people would agree with him.
In the end, this is an interesting look about how, as noted in the book's subtitle, youth culture can have a cultural impact and serve as a source of revenue to savvy marketers. It's not, however, a particularly deep or convincing look at piracy. The use of the word piracy acts as a red herring, and deleting the few brief references to copyright infringement would result in a stronger book.
December 17, 2014
Matt Mason traces the current web 2.0 movement back to the 1970’s punk rock culture. He starts with focus on a quote from punk fanzine Sniffin’ Glue with a diagram showing three finger positions on the neck of a guitar with the caption:
“Here’s one chord, here’s two more, now form your own band.”
In a 2.0 world, doing-it-yourself does not seem that radical anymore. Anyone can be published author on the web. You can jump onto Blogger and in a few minutes have a powerful web publishing platform up and running in a few minutes.
Mason looks to some early punk bands who played for themselves and your buddies. Then maybe a few friends come along. If other people come then great, but it does not matter that much because you are doing for yourself and few people close to you.
Mason focuses mostly on music, but in the background I was thinking more about blogging. It does not make much sense to put together and a print a book that only a few hundred people will read. That is a big deployment of capital with an improbable return on investment. With web 2.0 the capital for distribution and publishing is minimal. A blog with only a few hundred readers is successful.
Mason labels the new business as “punk capitalism.” The businesses often are not in it for the money. They would like to cover their costs and have few dollars of profit. But they are not in it for the money.
Seth Godin in Unleashing the Ideavirus: “It took 40 years for radio to have 10 million users. . . 15 years for TV to have 10 million users, and it took Hotmail and Napster less than year. . . The time it takes for an idea to circulate is approaching zero.”
Web 2.0 movement is allowing a bigger audience of creators, a more rapid efficient distribution of information at less cost. It seems a little strange to be reading these concepts in a book.
Thanks to the delightful Connie Crosby of Crosby Group Consulting for giving me the book.
“Here’s one chord, here’s two more, now form your own band.”
In a 2.0 world, doing-it-yourself does not seem that radical anymore. Anyone can be published author on the web. You can jump onto Blogger and in a few minutes have a powerful web publishing platform up and running in a few minutes.
Mason looks to some early punk bands who played for themselves and your buddies. Then maybe a few friends come along. If other people come then great, but it does not matter that much because you are doing for yourself and few people close to you.
Mason focuses mostly on music, but in the background I was thinking more about blogging. It does not make much sense to put together and a print a book that only a few hundred people will read. That is a big deployment of capital with an improbable return on investment. With web 2.0 the capital for distribution and publishing is minimal. A blog with only a few hundred readers is successful.
Mason labels the new business as “punk capitalism.” The businesses often are not in it for the money. They would like to cover their costs and have few dollars of profit. But they are not in it for the money.
Seth Godin in Unleashing the Ideavirus: “It took 40 years for radio to have 10 million users. . . 15 years for TV to have 10 million users, and it took Hotmail and Napster less than year. . . The time it takes for an idea to circulate is approaching zero.”
Web 2.0 movement is allowing a bigger audience of creators, a more rapid efficient distribution of information at less cost. It seems a little strange to be reading these concepts in a book.
Thanks to the delightful Connie Crosby of Crosby Group Consulting for giving me the book.
July 12, 2009
If you fight pirates you deny yourself a source of revenue. They cannot be stopped and your competitors will not be so fearful.
Quotes:
"If our property can be infinitely reproduced and instantaneously distributed all over the planet without cost, without our knowledge, without it's even leaving our possession, how can we protect it? How are we going to get paid for the work we do without minds? And, if we can't get paid, what will assure the continued creation and distribution of such work?"
"The barrier to entry are being kicked down, and this new breed of fans-turned-performers, including you, is rushing toe world stage. Technology is cheap; information is everywhere; and the roadies are gone. The only thing left to do is to stop defining ourselves by the old hierarchy and run onstage."
"This seems unusual given that American Apparel sells only plain, logo-free clothes such as T-shirts and track suits that don't look particularly different to other plain T-shirts and track suits. What their fans buy into is the company's message."
"I learnt that the only way to learn about anything is to break it thoughtfully, then to make it work again."
"A process that used to take months now takes a day or two."
"The politicians at the top introduce policies. The people at the bottom find a way around them."
"When pirates start to appear in a market, it's usually an indication that it isn't working properly."
"South Bronx looked like Hiroshima, but most people didn't see that. But the trains came out of there and crept through the squeaky-clean neighborhoods, it scared the hell out of 'em."
"The question will not be "How do we stop this happening," but "How do we facilitate it?""
Quotes:
"If our property can be infinitely reproduced and instantaneously distributed all over the planet without cost, without our knowledge, without it's even leaving our possession, how can we protect it? How are we going to get paid for the work we do without minds? And, if we can't get paid, what will assure the continued creation and distribution of such work?"
"The barrier to entry are being kicked down, and this new breed of fans-turned-performers, including you, is rushing toe world stage. Technology is cheap; information is everywhere; and the roadies are gone. The only thing left to do is to stop defining ourselves by the old hierarchy and run onstage."
"This seems unusual given that American Apparel sells only plain, logo-free clothes such as T-shirts and track suits that don't look particularly different to other plain T-shirts and track suits. What their fans buy into is the company's message."
"I learnt that the only way to learn about anything is to break it thoughtfully, then to make it work again."
"A process that used to take months now takes a day or two."
"The politicians at the top introduce policies. The people at the bottom find a way around them."
"When pirates start to appear in a market, it's usually an indication that it isn't working properly."
"South Bronx looked like Hiroshima, but most people didn't see that. But the trains came out of there and crept through the squeaky-clean neighborhoods, it scared the hell out of 'em."
"The question will not be "How do we stop this happening," but "How do we facilitate it?""
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2012
Occasionally Mason is a good storyteller, but his argument has many flaws. He lumps all "pirate" activity together, and lauds it as disrupting evil, greedy capitalistic forces, but he doesn't recognize that it is quite possible to be a greedy, self-interested pirate...and actually many of the situations that he describes ARE self-interested.
The opening situation in the book is of a guy silencing all radios within a 30 foot radius of his car, using a modified iTrip. It silences an annoying boombox as well as people listening to news on their way to work--do we really want to encourage people to take AWAY access from others? (Mason's argument is yes--that guy is an 'innovator' who 'rocks the boat' with his 'punk capitalism').
Mason's closing argument uses the logic of the prisoner’s dilemma to say that companies, from drug companies to entertainment, should use more pirate-type behaviors to further promote open competition, and innovation. But while big companies, pirates, and prisoners might win by cheating to get ahead, the public does not. Do I want a big company who acts like the guy with the iTrip? Companies who are not held back by copyright and concepts of personal property? (Oh sorry, your house was just "remixed" into an art installment, or Oh sorry, your fan fiction is now my TV show, or Oh sorry, I punk'd your drug company).
The opening situation in the book is of a guy silencing all radios within a 30 foot radius of his car, using a modified iTrip. It silences an annoying boombox as well as people listening to news on their way to work--do we really want to encourage people to take AWAY access from others? (Mason's argument is yes--that guy is an 'innovator' who 'rocks the boat' with his 'punk capitalism').
Mason's closing argument uses the logic of the prisoner’s dilemma to say that companies, from drug companies to entertainment, should use more pirate-type behaviors to further promote open competition, and innovation. But while big companies, pirates, and prisoners might win by cheating to get ahead, the public does not. Do I want a big company who acts like the guy with the iTrip? Companies who are not held back by copyright and concepts of personal property? (Oh sorry, your house was just "remixed" into an art installment, or Oh sorry, your fan fiction is now my TV show, or Oh sorry, I punk'd your drug company).
March 21, 2008
The first 3/4 of the book is about examples of how artists used music and cultural to subvert societal norms and question the status quo, mainly about the hip hop, punk, disco, rave, and grime, pirate radio, pop art, video game moding, and graffiti culture movements of the last 50 years or so. The last quarter explains the actual dilemma itself which is pretty simple: companies should use work of pirates to their advantage and stop spending resources to fight them.
I was hoping for more historical examples, going back 500 years or more. Matt's book relies almost solely on interviews with people, including his own experiences in the pirate radio grime scene in the UK. If he set out to rely only on interviews, this explains why he did not go back further into history. He could have mentioned something like the 17th Century French button makers.
So perhaps I am wishing it was more like the forthcoming book Against Intellectual Monopoly, but I have no good reason for this, really. Matt is pointing out new examples on his blog.
I was hoping for more historical examples, going back 500 years or more. Matt's book relies almost solely on interviews with people, including his own experiences in the pirate radio grime scene in the UK. If he set out to rely only on interviews, this explains why he did not go back further into history. He could have mentioned something like the 17th Century French button makers.
So perhaps I am wishing it was more like the forthcoming book Against Intellectual Monopoly, but I have no good reason for this, really. Matt is pointing out new examples on his blog.
November 8, 2008
Yet another non-fic that connects to Gladwell's The Tipping Point. However this was a nice little variation on Gladwell's definitions of viral connections, and I thoroughly enjoyed the anecdotes contained within. This book takes the reader on a merry jaunt through the roots of piracy and the adaptation of various media to give the public what they want and to fill empty niches. My biggest complaint about this book is that the author's connections to the music industry mean that the VAST majority of anecdotes are about the evolution of radio and rap.
I find this moderately understandable since so much of today's discussions concerning piracy are automatically linked with the music industry and the RIAA's soul-crushing grasp on the intellectual copyrights of the artists.
I did enjoy that some of the items discussed by Malcolm Gladwell make an appearance here but from a decidedly different point of view (namely that of adaptation and grapevine-like gossip and alteration). A solidly interesting read, but I'll be glad to return to something a tad less cerebral soon.
I find this moderately understandable since so much of today's discussions concerning piracy are automatically linked with the music industry and the RIAA's soul-crushing grasp on the intellectual copyrights of the artists.
I did enjoy that some of the items discussed by Malcolm Gladwell make an appearance here but from a decidedly different point of view (namely that of adaptation and grapevine-like gossip and alteration). A solidly interesting read, but I'll be glad to return to something a tad less cerebral soon.
August 9, 2011
Brilliant. Insightful. A great account of modern-day piracy. A clarion call for all to embrace the pirate within us. Mason makes the term 'pirate' cool.
The part I found most profound was how marketers nowadays are quickly latching on to the latest fad/'in-thing' as a way to connect with their consumers which I think is a terrible thing to do (and this coming from an ad person). That latest fad or craze could've have become part of modern culture but instead it becomes commercialized. Instead of endearing the brand to its target audience, it only succeeds in making itself look like someone who's trying too hard. And horror of horrors, not "real".
But the thing is, the marketers who've decided to take advantage of all those pirate-like fad/'in-thing' out there, are the same people who like them and probably doing those things themselves. So is it commercialization or merely a group of young marketers trying to connect with their peers, i.e. trying to sell something by way of communication that is currently, the accepted mode?
The part I found most profound was how marketers nowadays are quickly latching on to the latest fad/'in-thing' as a way to connect with their consumers which I think is a terrible thing to do (and this coming from an ad person). That latest fad or craze could've have become part of modern culture but instead it becomes commercialized. Instead of endearing the brand to its target audience, it only succeeds in making itself look like someone who's trying too hard. And horror of horrors, not "real".
But the thing is, the marketers who've decided to take advantage of all those pirate-like fad/'in-thing' out there, are the same people who like them and probably doing those things themselves. So is it commercialization or merely a group of young marketers trying to connect with their peers, i.e. trying to sell something by way of communication that is currently, the accepted mode?
September 25, 2011
The Pirate's Dilemma tells the story of how youth culture drives innovation and is changing the way the world works.
RWD magazine founding editor-in-chief Matt Mason suggests that at the heart of innovation lies an intersection of piracy, youth and business, and concludes piracy to be just another business model. Given this, the dilemma should not be about how we compete against pirates and how we treat them but becomes more about how we can become better by recognising and capitalising on pirate-led exploits of sailing into waters uncharted by society and market/ spaces where traditional rules do not apply --- an interesting proposition.
I particularly liked the stories on remix, (Napster-style) file sharing, graffiti, hip hop, open-source software - all make great examples of The Pirate's Dilemma and exemplify the concepts of 'creative destruction' and 'radical disruption' --- fabulous!
As suspected this is indeed a good companion to Lawrence Lessig's 'Free Culture' and 'Remix' (both which I have also read and recommend).
RWD magazine founding editor-in-chief Matt Mason suggests that at the heart of innovation lies an intersection of piracy, youth and business, and concludes piracy to be just another business model. Given this, the dilemma should not be about how we compete against pirates and how we treat them but becomes more about how we can become better by recognising and capitalising on pirate-led exploits of sailing into waters uncharted by society and market/ spaces where traditional rules do not apply --- an interesting proposition.
I particularly liked the stories on remix, (Napster-style) file sharing, graffiti, hip hop, open-source software - all make great examples of The Pirate's Dilemma and exemplify the concepts of 'creative destruction' and 'radical disruption' --- fabulous!
As suspected this is indeed a good companion to Lawrence Lessig's 'Free Culture' and 'Remix' (both which I have also read and recommend).
April 11, 2016
I had high hopes this book would be going into details on piracy (the copyright type of piracy') and business. however most stuff written is about music (mostly hiphop) and youth cultures, so far my fault I should've checked some reviews. However this book is one of the most chaotic books I ever read. The writer knows a lot about music and subcultures (as this is his playing field), but he seems to want to stretch and connect his knowledge in this book into all the fields he has ever read something about. It covers marketing, business models, psychology and even game theory. Worst thing is, he even makes it sound like he knows it all in these fields. The chapters hardly seem to have a relationship and also within the chapters there is hardly any structure. I'm still looking for the point the author is trying to make. If you have the chance to buy another book, do so, if you want to read it somehow download it for free (it's all about priacy remember!), it's not worth the money.
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