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.
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  1. 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 thread ]

  2. 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 thread ]

  3. 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 thread ]


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