Speaking about piracy at the music conference Midem, Rovio CEO Mikael Hed said something you don’t always hear from executives: “Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business at the end of the day.” Granted, this isn’t the first time Rovio has made comments of this nature.
According to The Guardian, the Angry Birds developer sees using courts to go after pirates as “futile” — unless products are being sold which hurt the brand or rip off customers. “We took something from the music industry,” continues Hed, “which was to stop treating the customers as users, and start treating them as fans. We do that today: we talk about how many fans we have.”
“If we lose that fanbase, our business is done, but if we can grow that fanbase, our business will grow.”
Angry Birds boss: ‘Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business’ [The Guardian via Eurogamer]
Published: Jan 30, 2012 02:00 pm