Mexico Grupero

There’s a show in canal Once called ‘Mexico Grupero‘ that’s really worth seeing. It features varied viewpoints, interviews with a lot of people – from radio hosts to artists to journalists – that always bring something useful to the table.

In specific, it’s the opinion of artist Bobby Pulido that got my attention. Since the episode I saw dealt with piracy, what he said seemed vey appropiate. He said it’s hard for him to believe that people would willingly steal something he’s worked hard to make, but he understands it; it is here what clinched it for me:

The fault of all this piracy is in the economy. The minimum wage hasn’t changed much while the cost of an album has. There’s people who earn 700, even 500 pesos weekly. For people is as simple as this, they either buy an orignal album or they eat.

This is so true it passes by unseen by the majority. Another thing said in the show is that the pirates are there covering a demand from people.

Pretty much everything in the show is true and i knew it to be true, But – there’s always one – I almost didn’t realize there was an opinion missing from all this:

That of the record companies.

And I’m not talking about the small ones. I’m taking about the big ones, the multinationals, those that ‘if you’re not with them, you’re no one‘.

And their opinion is a 100% predictable:

  • Pirates are to blame
  • The government is to blame because it can’t stop piracy
  • People are to blame for buying pirate

If they’re so worried about piracy… why don’t they at least make their opinion known? The fact they won’t openly state their position beyond the courts makes them look arrogant, greedy and closeminded than they’re known to be.

It’s worth mentioning what it was said in the show about buying original records. To increase the value of the product, they’re adding videos, putting more stuff in the album sleeve, adding dvds and whatnot. There’s even those dual discs, that are cd on one side and dvd on the other, so they get scratched sooner and when they’re stolen lost you have to buy them again. It’s all nice but wouldn’t it be simpler just to reduce the price of the product to begin with?

We all know the excuse: ‘if I had the money, i’d buy original’. And yes, it’s true, if people have the means, people buy original.

It’s here where DRM enters the fray, but I’ll leave that for another day…