Downloads As Promotions

from the look-at-that dept

This is something of an odd interview -- and it's not entirely clear why Business Week has chosen to use it, but it's with a kid who really likes some new band, and even though the band offers all of their music online for free, he still feels it's worth it to buy everything they release, just because they release it. The free music acted as a promotion that got him hooked, and caused him to go out and buy the albums as well as making sure he goes and sees them perform live as well. While it's just one anecdotal example, it does hold a lesson the industry needs to learn. Their first response, of course, would be that this is just one kid and they're trying to protect against everyone else who wouldn't be so honest. However, more to the point, there's a marketing message. The kid makes it clear that he'll buy a product he sees value in -- and it clearly has to do with the packaging and the band behind it. The industry continues to think they're selling "music." But, they're really selling "the band" and everything that entails, including how the music is packaged (nice CD material? extra features?), concerts, fan-wear, fanclubs, access to the musicians and plenty of other things. Once they realize that, they can see that the music is simply a way to promote all of the above. Will some people just take the music and nothing else? Sure. But that's no different than people watching a commercial and not buying the product. The music itself has promotional value, which the industry seems to deny.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Mike Potter, 30 Aug 2004 @ 7:36am

    music

    "The industry continues to think they're selling "music.""

    That is what it boils down to. if they're not selling music they arn't doing anything. So what we have is a bunch of lazy sob's with no product and huge salaries

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.