Applying the Cathedral and Bazaar paradigms to the music industry

(talk outline)

Ram Samudrala
Department of Structural Biology
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford CA 94305
ram@zen.stanford.edu

Introduction

• definition of Cathedral and Bazaar paradigms
• analogy to the music industry
• illustration of conflict between the two paradigms

The Cathedral vs. the Bazaar

• chaos and complexity theory background
• harnessing the power of unrestricted distribution
• results from simulation of complex systems
• free music: what it means

Importance of unrestricted distribution

• for consumers - ease of acquisition
• for musicians - spread of creativity

Economic models

• traditional non-per-copy based models currently used
• service model based on collage music
• ideas from other information-based sub-economies without IP protection

Concluding remarks

Primary reference

• The Future of Music: http://www.ram.org/ramblings/philosophy/fmp/music_future.html