奇速英语阅读理解：今天奇速英语和广大英语阅读爱好者分享的主题是以泰勒为首1%的艺人占据音乐市场60%的收入。音乐门票能告诉你关于供求和二级市场的运作？19世纪早期的意大利歌剧是如何为版权法对创造力的影响提供一个天然尝试的?全球巡演的财务状况如何说明鲍莫尔的“成本病”理论？

　　What the music industry reveals about economics

　　关于经济学，音乐产业揭示了什么?

　　And vice versa

　　反之亦然

　　WHAT CAN music tickets tell you about supply and demand,and the working of secondary markets?How do operas in early 19th-century Italy provide a natural experiment in the impact of copyright law on creativity?And how do the finances of a global concert tour illustrate Baumol’s cost disease?

　　音乐门票能告诉你关于供求和二级市场的运作？19世纪早期的意大利歌剧是如何为版权法对创造力的影响提供一个天然尝试的?全球巡演的财务状况如何说明鲍莫尔的“成本病”理论？

　　These are the sorts of questions that Alan Krueger,a chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Barack Obama,answers in“Rockonomics”.Mr Krueger died in March,before the publication of his book—which,as its title hints,sets out to emulate“Freakonomics”(a bestselling pop-economics compendium from 2005),only with added guitar solos.

　　巴拉克•奥巴马领导下的经济顾问委员会主席艾伦•克鲁格在《摇滚经济学》一书中回答了这些问题。克鲁格先生于三月份去世，在他的书出版之前，正如书名所暗示的那样，他打算效仿《魔鬼经济学》(一本2005年的畅销书流行经济学简编)，但只是增加了吉他独奏罢了。

　　The economics of the music industry matter for several reasons,Mr Krueger argues.For a start,they illuminate how the business works,which is widely misunderstood,despite the role of music in many people’s lives.They provide an early and informative example of an industry coping with digital disruption.

　　克鲁格认为，音乐产业的经济状况之所以重要，有几个原因。首先，它们阐明了商业是如何运作的，尽管音乐在许多人的生活中扮演着重要角色，但这一点却被广泛误解。它们提供了一个行业应对数字颠覆的早期和信息丰富的例子。

　　But Mr Krueger dreams that his inquiry might attest to the value of the discipline of economics itself,and help restore its reputation with both the public and policymakers.“A broader audience might be willing—even eager—to listen if the story of the economic forces disrupting our world is told through the prism of the music industry,”he writes.

　　但克鲁格梦想着，他的调查或许能证明经济学这门学科本身的价值，并帮助恢复其在公众和政策制定者中的声誉。他写道:“如果通过音乐产业的棱镜来讲述经济力量颠覆世界的故事，可能会有更广泛的受众愿意——甚至更渴望——聆听。”

　　Mr Krueger’s love of music shines through as he anatomises the industry’s finances and its increasingly“winner takes all”nature.Today the top 5%of performers claim 85%of concert revenue,for example,and the top 1%take 60%.

　　克鲁格先生对音乐的热爱在他剖析音乐产业的财务状况和日益增长的“赢家通吃”的本质时展露无遗。举例来说，如今，收入最高的5%的艺人占演唱会总收入的85%，而收入最高的1%的艺人则占60%。

　　He looks at how recording and touring revenues have changed,the business model of streaming,how contracts work and whether political activism makes business sense for artists.He analyses why tickets are usually underpriced—and how Taylor Swift,Jay-Z and others have pioneered“slow ticketing”,whereby tickets are released gradually,so shows do not sell out straight away.

　　他研究了唱片和巡演收入的变化，流媒体的商业模式，合同是如何运作的，以及政治激进主义对艺术家来说是否有商业意义。他分析了为什么演出票通常会卖得很低，以及泰勒·斯威夫特、Jay-Z等人是如何率先开创了“缓慢售票（饥饿营销）”，缓慢售票是指票是逐渐发行的，这样演出就不会马上卖光。

　　He also provides much wonkish detail on radio royalties and the evolution of copyright law.(It turns out that the number and quality of new operas increased in the parts of Italy where Napoleon imposed French copyright law;Rossini and Verdi were among the beneficiaries.)

　　他还提供了许多关于电台版税和版权法演变的不可靠的细节。(事实证明，在拿破仑以前实施法国版权法的意大利部分地区，新歌剧的数量和质量都有所增加；罗西尼和威尔第是受益者之一。)

　　He notes that William Baumol used the example of a string quartet when formulating his“cost disease”theory about the relationship between prices and productivity(see Free exchange).A detailed analysis of the peculiarities of the Chinese music market is followed by a nod towards behavioural economics and music’s impact on happiness.There are also interviews with solo artists,bands and music executives.

　　他指出，威廉•鲍莫尔在阐述有关价格与生产率关系的“成本病”理论时，使用了弦乐四重奏的例子。在详细分析了中国音乐市场的特点之后，人们认可了行为经济学和音乐对幸福的影响。此外，其还有对独唱艺术家、乐队和音乐高管的采访。

　　Because it focuses on a single field,“Rockonomics”lacks the variety of“Freakonomics”.Despite its aspirations,the book is more effective at using economics to explain the music industry than vice versa.For readers with a budding interest in economics,other tomes will prove a more effective gateway drug.But for anyone thinking of entering the music industry,or working in it already,“Rockonomics”is an eye-opening and entertaining read.

　　因为《摇滚经济学》只关注一个领域，所以其缺乏《魔鬼经济学》的多样性。尽管有这样的抱负，这本书在用经济学来解释音乐产业方面比用音乐学来解释经济学更有效。对于那些对经济学有初步兴趣的读者来说，其他的大篇幅著作被证明是一种更有效的入门药。但对于任何想进入音乐行业，或已经在其中工作的人来说，《摇滚经济学》是一本大开眼界、有趣的读物。

　　克鲁格先生对音乐的热爱在他剖析音乐产业的财务状况和日益增长的“赢家通吃”的本质时展露无遗。更多奇速英语阅读资讯，请持续关注奇速英语官网：www.qisuabc.com