Another Business Model That Embraces Free Music Sharing
from the the-idea-is-spreading... dept
Last week I wrote up my quick suggestions for a business model that embraced free file sharing without involving any changes to the law - or, in fact, changes to anything other than some music industry contracts. It seems that some others are coming to the same conclusion. Venture Capitalist Tim Oren (who does not invest in anything related to the music industry, content or digital rights management) has written up his idea of how the industry can embrace free file sharing, and it's remarkably like my own thoughts on the matter. He suggests, though, that it's going to take a top-40 teen heart throb type of success story to get it to sink in for the industry. He describes this as a combined "Britney-Blair Witch" phenomenon - taking the industry completely by surprise. Another thing that I've thought of since I wrote my own piece, and which fits in here with Tim's idea is that it certainly will be possible for the bigger name acts to make additional money in sponsorships. Just look at how much Pepsi is spending on someone like Britney. That doesn't change in a world of free file sharing - and, in fact, Britney is likely to have a larger audience since it will be easier to get more people to listen to her. So, now, the question is how to create this Blair Witch style groundswell for a musician, while keeping them away from the major labels.
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Hard disk sizes are RIGHT
1 MiB = 1 Mebibyte = 2^20 bytes
1 GB = 1 Gigabyte = 10^9 bytes
1 GiB = 1 Gibibyte = 2^30 bytes
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Prestige effect
So it could be with music: the prestige of owning an album goes away when they are free, nobody will want to own music anymore, and future denizens will wonder why anybody ever spent money to own noise.
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No Subject Given
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How You Look At It
The RIAA and some musicians see it as distribution of product, and therefore see it as lost revenue. Other musicians see it as promotional material, which will result in concert ticket sales, T-shirt sales, lunchbox sales, and sponsorship money. And yes, it will also sell CD's.
The key is to turn people into fans. No one buys CDs or goes to concerts of musicians they have never heard of. But turn them into a fan and you will have several years of revenue from that person. Give them the samples for free so that they can learn about you. Let them share those samples with other people. Word will spread.
Muscians don't become famous by preventing people from hearing their work.
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The Harder they work at it
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Re: How You Look At It
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Re: How You Look At It
Also, the idea of ofering "downloads" isn't the point. By using P2P, you're offloading the bandwidth costs and creating a good mechanism for promoting bands to people. See someone who likes a lot of the same music you do? Notice they have some band you've never heard of? Guess what? You're going to check out that band.
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Re: How You Look At It
the whole debate reminds me a little of environmentalism. if those folks put all of that energy into enabling alternatives, rather than trying to punish the evil ones, something might actually change.
but then again, i don't download and haven't bought a cd in quite a number of years...
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Re: Prestige effect
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Re: Prestige effect
A hundred years ago, when plastic was a brand new material, jewelry was made from it, and rich people showed them off. What rich people today would think to buy plastic jewelry?
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Re: How You Look At It
Now if that someone got the same thing for free, and is still fiercely proud of it, does that situation not beg for mockery? Imagine teens whose life you just ended by making fun of their music, or nerds gushing fire hydrants of tears from their coke-bottle glasses because you make fun of their Bach.
I once saw a teen who obviously did a homemade henna, so I asked if it was a birth defect, and let me tell you, her day was ruined.
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Re: Prestige effect
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No Subject Given
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Re: No Subject Given
The thing is, that control is an illusion that won't last as bands realize they don't need to be under the thumb of the industry.
If the industry were smart, they would realize the impact it's going to have and reposition themselves. We're trying to help them see that.
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