Artistic Incentives

Introduction
Wherein lies the greatest caveat in media? I would argue that it is that artistic producers are compensated prior to evaluation by the user.

You pay before you know
Before you buy a CD or go to the theatre, you have no idea what the quality of the goods will be. As these creations are legally constructed monopolies, through copyright law, they are not subject to the traditional market forces of supply and demand in the same way, so their perceived value at time of purchase may be drastically different from their actual entertainment value.

Big money makers are all too often terrible movies
You can witness the effects in successful but critically horrific films such as Shark Tale and The Grudge. Admittedly, these films may be very entertaining in spite of their critical disdain, but I can personally attest to an endless stream of big-budget, grandly marketed films that have left me feeling dissappointed. And yet, a plethora of low-budget films are often highly entertaining, such as Capturing the Friedmans. Were you able to decide after sampling the goods how much it was worth, some of lackluster blockbusters would no doubt go without the compensation guaranteed by your ticket, and your money could go to some gems.

How much to pay per item
Payment based on usage must be mandatory; I am certain that a donation scheme is not the way to go. I believe that you should pay into a pool a set rate for each film or song that you buy, but that you can vary a substantial percentage of the price you paid between the consumed entertainment. For example, having watched Shark Tale, The Grudge, and Capturing the Friedmans, you pay $10 each. However, you are given an option, after the evaluation, to distribute 80% the $30 total how you see fit. You can give $24 to Capturing the Friedmans for entertaining you, with a mandatory $2 to each of the other busts. This rewards for entertainment value, and not just their marketing capacity. A mandatory minimum for each film seems to be a wise way to provide for some compensation, though it is by no means necessary.

Federal regulation
It might be argued that this system begs to be placed into a federal program for artistic compensation, but I see no reason why it cannot be commercialized in the digital domain. A company can offer downloads of the movies, charging the set rate, and permit users to redistribute the funds based on their perceived entertainment value. This will reward the good at the expense of the bad, and encourage a movement away from the trend of well marketed but otherwise horrible movies.

Criticism of federal taxation
As well, federal compensation systems through taxation of blank media or internet usage inherently seem to involve taxing everyone indiscriminately. They also seem to have no adequate means to redistribute the funds, and rather propose inadequate schemes of approximation. As media technologies for transport and storage are not tied closely to content, they are not precise enough to justify a tax upon. The most appropriate solution is to permit a marketplace where content is paid for by users, and allow the technology to be cheaper so more of the users funds can go into the content they benefitted from, as opposed to subsidizing content they have not chosen to support.

On subscriptions
Subscription based models are fine so long as they compensate adequately, as a reflection of user choice. A flat rate subscription may permit some users to download far more than others at the same price, which as a matter of economics may be fine for the subscription company. A far more elegant system is a pay on-demand system which permits users to redistribute the funds.

Conclusion
The incentive structure for CD's and movies are grossly inadequate. It is now becoming possible to provide consumers with a better model of funding for those artistic producers they support, as opposed to the hit-and-miss method currently employing sophisticated marketing techniques instead of producing quality.

Notable exception
One interesting exception to the conundrum of artistic valuation is the video game industry, and in particular the online video game industry. It is a bastion of capitalism in the world of copyright protection, where users have access to decent reviews, and the industry has a strong incentive to invest intelligently and produce quality. In the case of online games it is exceptional in that, by adhering to a subscription model, they must offer a quality of service in additon to a competitive product.