Universal Music Says Times They Are A-Changing, And So Are We

from the believe-it-when-we-see-it dept

Universal Music says it's shifting its strategy to become a broader entertainment company that's less reliant on music sales. The shift comes as sales of digital music -- not just full-track downloads, but other products like phone ringtones -- are skyrocketing and helping offset physical music sales declines. Universal also said it wants to "tap into the enormous demand for free music, and generate revenue from those who can't or won't pay" -- hopefully that means it's going to focus on other lines of business rather than stepping up lawsuits against file-sharers. The company's already dipped its toe into these waters, having set up a music-centric virtual mobile phone operator, and this week it licensed its catalog to Motorola for use in its iRadio system for phones as well. Universal's also going the K-Tel route, selling its back catalog through infomercials.
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


  • identicon
    Greg, 6 Oct 2005 @ 11:29pm

    Proof of what people care about

    That people would pay so much for ringtones while downloading whole songs illegally demonstrates people aren't worried about cost or legality. It's all about convenience. Simple lesson.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    alterion, 7 Oct 2005 @ 12:03am

    Adverts?

    "generate revenue from those who won't pay" is that not a contradiction.. i guess that means ads of some kind in that case.. or a pandora style free digital content delivery? well i can dream

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 7 Oct 2005 @ 8:12am

      Re: Adverts?

      It might mean that they expect these people might buy a t-shirt with the musician's name on it..

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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.