How Corporates Profit from Warez - Revealed!

It's been a while since I last read a good 'ole warez debate on the forums... Press play!

Think of any popular brand in software: Cubase, Reason, FruityLoops, Photoshop, Dreamweaver etc... and you will see a brand that owes at least some of its success, to the "freedom-fighters" of the web - the software crackers.

There is a side to the warez debate that often goes overlooked, and that is; it can potentially be worth $millions to the right company, with the right software. I'm gonna show you how this works using a forum post I made in response to a thread started by a member called Prime:

... a sound engineer i know said he will give me the full Korg Legacy collection i just cant resist accepting the offer.. i would say it is ok(ish?) at first to use cracked software as i im fairly new to producing music... When i make something good and im outta college and got money i would definitely purchase real copys
Am i just making excuses?

It's a double-edged sword I think.

Clearly, there is a considerable loss of revenue because of it... which is harmful.

On the other hand, Prime's quote:

(When I'm) outta college and got money i would definatly purchase real copys

Demonstrates the benefit.

Why? 'Cos of people like Prime. Because people who mess about with, and become proficient with, a particular app, later go on to get jobs in companies using that same app - Part of the reason they get the job is because they know how to use the software required for the job.

I wonder how many programmers at Propellerhead, Yamaha (Cubase), Adobe (Audition/Photoshop) etc... owe their jobs to using cracked software back in their early computer-days? Maybe not music software necessarily, but programming software like Visual Basic, for instance.

Further, these people later become managers, company owners, buyers or whatever... and thus gain influence over staff training and software budgets etc... and so it goes on.

This is a business aspect that the software industry accept, but either keep quiet about when arguing their case, or, they are ignorant of.

What Would Happen if Warez Didn't Exist?

Well, far less users for one...

... and with that; far less brand recognition too - You might not have used Dreamweaver, for instance, but you may well have heard of it and know what it does.

If few people don't know about an application, the software houses have to spend a far greater proportion of their money marketing it = less money going into software development.

But that's only part of the story: The crucial bit is to get at the budget-spenders. Get to them and the people who influence them, and you can become a market-leader... But there's even another but...!

Education

People need to be trained to use software. That means getting into the colleges and private course-providers. Convincing them to teach a tiny user-base how to use their particular software, is no mean feat... however good that software is!

Warez is free advertising and builds brand recognition - That can be worth £millions, don't underestimate that.

So you're sat there thinkin, 'Fookin hell, are you saying warez is good?!!'

Well, with the music industry struggling (because of piracy), and with gifted software-makers unable to to ride-out the revenue-drain that warez definitely entails... how could I?

No, but I'm giving a side to the argument that is often not vocalised. Clearly, as much as it gives, it also taketh away too.

Software is Not Just Gibberish Code

The fact is, writing good software is not all about code: It's also about interface design and functionality - A completely different skillset to programming. It's also about documentation and support.

IMHO, the main differences between the market-leading software in any sector you care to mention, and software that is (or potentially could be) equally as good, is documentation, ie... A thorough, easy-to-use and clearly written help system.

If you take Cubase, Logic, Reason etal, and compare their help docs to the freeware/shareware you also own; almost without exception, that is where you'll see the most glaring differences. The reason? Time, cost, and the skillset needed to comprehensibly document a good help-system.

Don't underestimate the documentation.

There are several disciplines and concise planning that goes into writing a good software package. If you couple that effort with the fast-pace of technical progress in the market today, you begin to appreciate the pressures of getting product out of the door before it becomes outdated = Considerable upfront investment.

And therein is the damage that warez mostly wrecks: If you're a small or independant software house, warez can stop you getting into a position of positive cashflow - Cash that could make your product stronger and better.

If that cash doesn't come in quick enough, you can't fund updates and further innovation.

The sad fact is, there is software out there that is better than the brand names we know and love. With our general resistance to adware, however, and the propogation of warez, the choices that remain for software-makers are to plod along as open-source, shareware or freeware, and just, perhaps, hope that one day some big fish will come along and gobble them up... very few get that far and for those that do, a huge amount of blood, sweat, tears and dedication has often been contributed by a (sometimes large) number of dedicated people working in their spare time (mainly).

Against The Muso Ethic (or... in your shoes!)

As a breed, muso's tend to be anti-establishment/corporation, and pro "freedom of creativity". So you must square your actions against the impact your choice of ownership has on the tools you're using today, and those that will, or will not, follow tomorrow. For while warez can help promote software in the long run (IMO), surviving the long-run is much more difficult today... and the cost of that - to everyone - is lost innovation and livelyhoods.

Consider the business issue from your position too: You might get a buzz from the fact that folks are downloading your tunes and playing them - Hey, who wouldn't! - But if you wanna quit your day-job, how do you make the leap from free, to... 'Oi, now ya have to pay'?