Don't Tell American Idol You Can't Make Money From Free Content
from the see-free,-disengage-brain dept
As Mike recently pointed out, he gets a little annoyed when people say "free is not a business model." As he points out, free is really just part of the business model, and the challenge is in using free as part of the business model, and he's compiled example after example after example of people doing exactly this. Now add American Idol to this list. Building on its free content -- the TV show -- its producers have teamed up with the company that makes the popular teen virtual world Habbo to create an Idol-themed one. Habbo has built a solid business upon its virtual world by selling virtual goods to teenagers. The new American Idol world will be tied to the show and feature new activities and virtual goods as the show progresses, and will also feature tie-ins from Idol's sponsors. The main content is given away for free, and used to successfully generate further advertising revenues and create interest in secondary, paid products -- like this virtual world, but also the popular American Idol concert tours and other offerings. So why doesn't anybody blast American Idol's producers for giving their content away for free?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.
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Filed Under: american idol, business models, free, habbo hotel
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But virtual goods should also be free right?
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But it isn't free
Actual free would be something like the show being tossed out to the world as unprotected torrents. But torrents of the TV show remain copyright breaches, do they not?
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As Fentex said, the show is not free, networks/TV stations pay for it, they recoop the costs from advertisers who pay to market their own goods, while viewers pay by having to suffer though Ad's, that generally these days take up about 20% of their viewing time
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It doesn't matter who is paying for the show, as nothing manufactured in life is completely free to everyone. Someone always needs to pay to have a product manufactured. The issue is, is the targeted consumer having to pay also, or is that targeted consumer getting it for free?
Plus, as an earlier post was referring. Not only does American Idol give away the main product for free to the targeted consumer, but they have a built in Micro-Payment system. The targeted consumer can actively participate in the show for a minimal micro-payment of a text message vote. So the producers of American Idol know how to get a portion of the targeted consumer to pay for part of the show via voluntary micro-payment also.
Now, on top of that, they are getting others in their targeted consumers to pay for other amenities of the show. These guys have some intelligent marketing people.
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snarky post
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What do you mean, free?
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