Cut to the modern day.
Many friends in the record business were able to score international Spotify accounts and consequently had global access to content. They would often post their playlists, which I wasn't yet able to access, because Spotify wasn't yet available in the US. When Spotify finally launched in the States, I went to some of these playlists and was frustrated when I'd only be able to listen to a subset of the tunes. Interestingly, Spotify and iTunes both allow its users to peer into other geographies' respective storefronts to see what users can't access: a not trivial amount of music, some pop and some quite obscure. It's like looking at an enticing window display while knowing it's not unaffordable; it's just wholly inaccessible and for reasons that definitely don't benefit the consumer and probably don't ultimately benefit the artists or businesses. It's inaccessibility is due to an antiquated system of business and copyright legislation that varies across regions. It's not these retailers' faults; it's the copyright holders'. Thing is, with the Internet, this content is available anyway...so why continue to have these walls?
My frustration was generally linked to music and videos, but it has extended more recently into books. I read an article in Soho House's magazine about J.J. Connolly's sequel to "Layer Cake" entitled "Viva La Madness." I went to Amazon to purchase a Kindle edition and saw it was unavailable. Out of curiosity, I went to Amazon.co.uk and saw that it was available in the Kindle edition, yet when I tried to purchase it, the purchase was rejected. With a bit of research, I found out that you could (temporarily or permanently) transfer the home of your Kindle to another territory, so I did and purchased "Viva La Madness." (Really great book!)
I considered changing my territory back to the States, but then thought, most US books are available in the UK, but many UK books are not available in the States, at least not immediately. I read about Daniel Kahneman's book "Thinking Fast and Slow" and looked to see if it was available in Kindle form in the US. Nope. Yet, it was available in the UK Amazon store, so I purchased it from there. Of course, I could purchase physical books and CDs from Amazon.co.uk as a US resident, but not digital versions.
Is this crazy? I think so.
Everyone is very focused on ensuring the monetization of digital content in the face of diminished physical sales. Fair enough. But it is also time to acknowledge that the Internet and digital has essentially eliminated the need for different territories. It sounds silly to write or say this, but the world is global.
I believe these old policies hurt sales, limiting exposure and access that could lead to more sales. The challenge, which is significant, is that the business has been built around selling rights to various territories as a way of increasing advances, not unlike the old TV syndication business, which ain't what it was. There has also been the hope that it would diminish piracy, yet a stoll to Chinatown will show you just how effective that's been (you can get virtually any Asian movie DVD while it's still in the theater in its home country). Additionally, copyright laws - at least for music - have a shorter term in certain territories than others. That's why, you see numerous Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley bootlegs coming out of Europe that are direct rips of official recordings...and they are often openly sold in physical CD form in US retailers! Talk about viva la madness.
I'm surprised more hasn't been made of this issue. I can't believe I'm alone in thinking that it's frustrating to more people than me and is a vestige of an era two decades past its due date.
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