Oh, Canada!

Oh, those crazy canucks. The Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) has proposed a $5 monthly fee on the internet, collected by ISPs, in order to compensate artists for songs being transferred via P2P sharing. Yikes. Not that many people would really notice that extra charge (considering they probably already pay a good bit in weird taxes and fees above their rate quote), but this just ISN'T a solution. First of all, how does the revenue from this get distributed fairly and evenly? Chances are pretty good that the vast majority (if not all) of the funds will go directly into the pocket of the major labels. Not only that, but since this would be a new thing, the labels wouldn't be contractually obligated to pay ANY of it to the artists. And if the labels needed another way out of paying the artists, there's no way of tracking exactly how many times each artist's music is downloaded. So what it would come down to is essentially the government taxing people because they're not making as much money as they're used to. Great.
But think further--wouldn't the movie industry want in on this, too? I mean, clearly music isn't the only thing getting pushed and pulled through those tubes of the internet. Heck, I don't have the numbers in front of me, but isn't porn likely to have about as many downloads, too?
Let's break down a few numbers:
Canada's Population= 32 million
Multiply by approx 2/3, since presumably not each individual has their own internet account= 20 million
x $5 = $100 mil
x 12 months = $1.2 billion (1/1000th of Canada's GDP--that's a pretty significant tax)
That's no chump change they're throwing around. Especially since not everyone (in fact, percentage-wise, relatively few) downloads music and movies for free. In fact, it's double punnishment for those who choose not to steal--not only are they taxed for things they don't get (taxation without representation!), but they're also still paying for the music they want.
Am I insane, or is exploiting loyal customers a bad strategy? Clearly the labels are not flat broke (by any stretch), so the majority of people still do evidently pay for their music--why make them pay again?
If, somehow, this proposition gets through, don't be surprised if download rates skyrocket and music sales plummet in Canada. The oldest lesson is business is if you piss your customers off, they'll find alternatives. Why can't industry folks put their money and business accumen to use towards a constructive, rather than destructive solution?

Answers?

I just posted a question on Yahoo! Answers and LinkedIn Answers: What influences or would influence you to purchase music? It's only ten minutes in and obviously a very limited sample size, but the responses so far seem to indicate that many respondents only purchase music if they can't find a free download of it. Will that trend continue through the next few days of responses? If so, what can bands do to get to their listeners pocketbooks? And does that profit have to come through album sales (and if not, what alternatives can exist)?
Voice your opinion here, or comment on this blog.

The Basic Premise

The basic premise of having this forum is that the music industry is in a good bit of turmoil right now and thus is succeptable to new innovations. This discussion is based around trying to find what some of the best ways to go about fostering change in the music industry are, specifically with regards to internet technologies. In simpler terms: the music industry is fucked and we want to know what comes next.
To do so, I am assembling vetrans and innovators alike from various ends of the music industry--from self-promoting artists to producers to label executives. Together, we will address the wants and needs of each party involved and try to plot out a path towards a solution that will leave all parties happy and profitable.
Some of the big questions we seek to answer over the course of the discussion include: What do artists/labels/etc want and need to survive? What do listeners and fans want and need? Will the future of the industry function within a label system? Or independently? What are artists willing to pay for? What are listeners willing to pay for? Perhaps most importantly, what drives a consumer to spend money that can be filtered to a band--and from that, is selling music the most profitable model for artists? And what alternatives can exist?
Obviously, some of these questions have easier answers than others. The hope is by creating a discussion amongst a diverse, intelligent, interested, and informed group, we may stumble upon something that may become an element in the future of music, and something that technology can help facilitate. And at the very least, it should be a fun and interesting discussion for all those involved--a conversation that you don't get to have every day.