iTunes Gets One Step Closer To Letting You Subscribe To A Band
from the sorta-maybe-possibly dept
One of the early business models we had suggested for the recording industry way back in 2003 was the idea of letting fans "subscribe" to a band -- giving them all sorts of benefits, while still making the music itself free. The idea was that you would effectively join an exclusive club, that would get you access in one way or another. It's been surprising that we haven't seen this sort of business model take off all that much, with most of the success stories so far focusing on tiered album release plans. However, it looks like Apple is moving just a little bit towards such a "subscription" offering, with its experimental "iTunes Pass" solution for the latest Depeche Mode release.It is, as always, great to see new experiments in terms of music business models -- but, again, this one seems to get the business model backwards. Effectively, Apple and the band (or, rather, its label) are asking Depeche Mode fans to pay $9 extra for some vague promises of future benefits that aren't at all defined. And, all of it seems to be focused around the digital content (the stuff that people are a lot less interested in paying for, and which can be used -- for free -- to promote more scarce parts of a business model). Also, the "pass" isn't much of a subscription, since it only lasts for a few months. I'm sure some diehard fans will pony up, but it's not exactly a compelling reason to buy at all.
To design a good subscription plan, you could simply let anyone get the pure music for free, but offer tiered yearly plans that provide extra benefits: earlier access to the content (get the latest single before your friends!), access to a private chat room that the band actually hangs out in, opportunities to buy tickets to shows before anyone else, a chance to win backstage passes to meet the band, and (my personal favorite) an opportunity to win a private show or a "backyard" concert. Then, the more the music is out there and enjoyed, the more worthwhile it is for fans to sign up to this program. Will there be free riders? Absolutely. Will there be more free riders than members? Probably. Does it matter? Not at all. Because you'll have a situation where everyone is happy. The band is making more money than before, the band has more fans than before with more people listening to their music, and the band's true fans are more closely connected to the band. And, oh yeah, no one's suing anyone or demanding payment. It's really not that difficult.
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
Filed Under: business models, depeche mode, itunes, music, subscription
Companies: apple
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Prez should listen only to patriotic tunes
That's right, folks. The GOP just released the list of tunes that Mike Steele downloaded onto his gizmo and it includes junk like "My Sharona" by The Knack, Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" and even that idiotic song "The House is Rockin' " by Stevie Ray Vaughan.
The Leader of the GOP should be listening to uplifting, patriotic tunes like "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy," the marching music of the great John Philip Sousa or "The Ballad of the Green Berets" that'll put him in the mood to kick terrorist butt -- not filling his head with silly rock 'n' roll garbage!
How are the Republicans supposed to pump up our troops to liberate Iraq when the leader has been chilling out to some mellow music fit for a beach party? He's the Republican Leader, by jiminy -- not some surfer dude waiting to "hang ten" on the next big wave.
Heck, even that wussy song "Centerfield" by John Fogerty is on the first iPod. That peacenik Fogerty was one of the left-wingers on that Vote For Change tour that fought tooth and nail to keep Bush from getting re-elected. Geez, Mike might as well download "The Best of the Dixie Chicks" while he's at it.
I reckon next we'll see Michael booty-dancing with Laura to the latest gansta rap nonsense from that hoodlum Snoop Dog, or making his whole cabinet do the Electric Slide.
If we wanted a Republican Leader who was going to put his stiff dance moves on display, we'd have voted in Al "Watch me do the Macarena" Gore back in the day, for crying out loud. At least Tipper would be sure to censor out all racy lyrics before they wound up on his iPod.
Dick Cheney also needs to get on the ball and delete all that rock from the Presidential iPod -- pronto.
Don't get me wrong. I don't necessarily agree with all the holy rollers at my church who swear that rock is the devil's music (although it's a safe bet Lucifer has more Marilyn Manson than Glenn Miller stuff on HIS iPod.) Heck, my wife Thelma Jean and I were the first couple on our block to learn The Twist.
If we're going to take over at the next election, we better start listening to a wholesome rock tune from good ol' Pat Boone or even an occasional ditty from the King himself, Elvis Presley, that's fine and dandy. But none of this newfangled head-banger trash kids listen to today.
Mind you, I personally wouldn't be caught dead with one of those ridiculous iPod's. I'll stick with the hi-fi the publisher gave me as a Christmas gift back in '72. It still works fine as ever.
And don't count on Thelma slapping one on either. She's scared stiff she could "catch some kind of computer virus" from the Internet.
But if the next Republican Prez needs to have music pumped into his ear to relax and unwind between invasions and signing bills, that's all right by me -- as long as he sticks to decent, all-American music.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Prez should listen only to patriotic tunes
Did you mean "Aryan" style buzz cut?
and... it's spelled Snoop Dogg (note the 2 "G"s)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Prez should listen only to patriotic tunes
This nation was made great by IMMIGRATION and Genetic Diversity. Fascist dicks like you barely deserve to have an opinion, in fact; I'm amazed you can even read.
Go back to 1947, you'll be happier. Leave the present and future to those of us who know what to do with it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Prez should listen only to patriotic tunes
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Prez should listen only to patriotic tunes
;)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
subscription
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
wait what?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: wait what?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: wait what?
Exactly. Effectively, you would pay for as many bands as you might have bought a CD for in the past (the fee should be less than a CD/year). Except you end up getting much more for it. So, in the end, you get more music, more benefit, more value... and you pay about the same as you would have in the past.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I'd criticize that idea, but it depends on the delivery. Are you talking about the hard copy or digital? Otherwise you would still have the obvious problem of it being freely available at or before the first release.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
I'm not so sure that's an "obvious problem." Of course the music would quickly show up elsewhere, but the benefit would be being among the *very first* to get that content -- being personally alerted to it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
(go check out their discogs.com page, and check out all the versions of Enjoy the Silence, for example, that were issued within 4 months of the original single's release.)
So, in a way, for completist DM fans, the "get it all for $19" makes sense.
The real question is, ever since they were a "band that kind-of-mattered", how many such fans are there left?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Considering that:
1. They don't get as much airtime (on traditional radio that is) as they used to when they were at their peek, popularity-wise, even when they have new material out.
2. Their shows are sold out after about an hour or so.
(note: this is in the European countries I'm familiar with). Don't know if it's the same elsewhere).
So I'd say they probably have some hardcore fans left...still, I'm not convinced Depeche Mode would be a good band to gauge the success of this. Like you said, their fans are often completists and incredible loyal. Even if this turns out to be a success, I wonder how much of that success can be transfered to bands with a less loyal fanbase.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Already happening, to some extent
The one case where I'm "subscribed" to an artist it's also been mostly digital-focused [I get a year's worth of stuff: so far one album, a few subscriber-only alternate take sort of downloads, though I believe there's a vinyl copy of the album coming as well], but I think that the tools can handle the kinds of non-digital ideas you've been talking about.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]