The fundamental thing to realize is that there are two kinds of people: those who want to have access to everything and those who want to own things. Most people are probably somewhere between the two.
You really don't need to get very creative, as the solutions already exist for music: Bandcamp and Spotify. Streaming services provide access to all music, as long as you keep paying. Bandcamp is pretty much perfect for buying the music you want.
I'm mostly in the second group, and if everything would be on Bandcamp I would end up buying a lot more. Top quality, hassle-free, DRM-free, for a reasonable price, with generous previews. Payment unlocks a download link, and an optional account allows you to maintain a collection. Everybody wins.
Music not being on Bandcamp is the easiest way to make me reconsider a purchase, and only offering it through streaming services is the easiest way to unlock piracy as a potential option in that consideration.
Other people like a streaming service, and both can and should exist in the same universe.
You'll never kill piracy, but it's very easy to be better. Just give the customer what they want. It doesn't have to be free. The industry should stop wasting so much time and money fighting illegal solutions to a problem they actively keep causing. It is much simpler and cheaper to just fix it.
You really don't need to get very creative, as the solutions already exist for music: Bandcamp and Spotify. Streaming services provide access to all music, as long as you keep paying. Bandcamp is pretty much perfect for buying the music you want.
I'm mostly in the second group, and if everything would be on Bandcamp I would end up buying a lot more. Top quality, hassle-free, DRM-free, for a reasonable price, with generous previews. Payment unlocks a download link, and an optional account allows you to maintain a collection. Everybody wins.
Music not being on Bandcamp is the easiest way to make me reconsider a purchase, and only offering it through streaming services is the easiest way to unlock piracy as a potential option in that consideration.
Other people like a streaming service, and both can and should exist in the same universe.
You'll never kill piracy, but it's very easy to be better. Just give the customer what they want. It doesn't have to be free. The industry should stop wasting so much time and money fighting illegal solutions to a problem they actively keep causing. It is much simpler and cheaper to just fix it.