As You Like It
Published August 12, 2002
Why should they have to pay $20.00 for one song? You don't have to be a genius to figure out that most music on a CD is filler. Perhaps one or two songs on a CD are worth listening to, with the rest being crap. Abandon the CD and half the problem is solved. If you focus on delivering singles to the market, rather than expensive and crap-filled CDs, then you've already gone halfway in meeting your consumer's desires. You can still offer compilation CDs or boxed sets, but that will be a niche market. Your consumers will decide how they want to arrange their music and will most likely use CD's as a means of arranging music to their tastes.
The next decision you'll have to make is how to deliver music to the consumer now that you've abandoned the CD. Judging by the recent spate of lawsuits, I think you're already aware of the various means of music distribution available today. Here's the kicker: you're going to have to knock off all this copyright infringement bullshit if you want to even begin engaging your market in a successful manner. Don't worry, you're still going to be paid a fee, but you'll have to give up trying to thrust your meaty hands into the consumer's pocket every time he wants to listen to a song. If you're willing to accept short-term loss for long-term gain, then you're ready to get back into the game of making money.
A cursory glance at the market reveals the time is ripe for exploitation. MP3's are common but portable devices still haven't reached critical mass. This means you can jump right in and takeover the market. First off, get those R&D dollars flowing because your eggheads need to come up with a music standard superior to the MP3. I'm sure you all went to business school so I'm confident you understand the concept of offering a superior alternative to an established product. Spending thousands of dollars to design and implement exotic CD copy-protection schemes that can be voided with a Sharpie isn't going to cut it. Developing a standard that offers better clarity in a smaller file-size would be a good start. While you're at it, make sure your standard is backwards compatible with the MP3, meaning people will be able to play MP3s on your products, but won't be able to play your files on current devices and software. Once you've accomplished that, offer the encoder/decoder free. Now don't go choking on your filet mignon just yet! You're still going to get your money, but not in this arena. All right, calmed down yet? Good, let's continue.
- As You Like It
- Published: August 12, 2002
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Music
- Writer: Paul Palubicki
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Comments on this articleComments
Paul-
It's all very nice of you to try and help the music industry find it's way out of the mess they're in, but suggesting that they invent a proprietary music delivery system and use it to retain control of the market ignores their track record.
The industry has a long history of exploitation, both of listeners and performers. I can't believe that you mean to suggest that they continue to dominate music culture.
I'm sure you are aware that there are tens of thousands of recording artists who will never be given a ride by the industry. It's the nature of the business- there is only so much time to promote artists via mass media. This is the industry's strength and its weakness.
The advent of music distribution and promotion via the net signals a brand new era for performers and listeners, one in which there is more choice and more opportunity all around.
Rather than promote a system where control is retained by the few, I hope you will reconsider your position and realise that the mass-marketing model is permenantly broken when it comes to music. Embrace the future, which belongs to all of us.
Jeff
Steam Powered Studio
I agree with your thoughts to an extent, but I think we also have to be practical about things. The large music companies aren't going anywhere anytime soon, so we still need to deal with them.
I was trying to throw out some ideas to make the music conglomerates less antagonistic toward their consumers, which is the only way they'll survive the next 20 years. They're currently trying to compete with their customers rather than a product, and that will eventually kill them in the end.
I agree with you that the Net is a godsend to those songwriters and musicians ignored by the record labels , but I don't think I've seen anything that has really helped these artists out too much. I think the problem lay in the tastes of Americans at large. Americans like the mass-produced music and the crap churned out by the major record labels. Most of your independent artists tend to be on the fringe, at least musically, and enjoy a relatively small following. I don't think the Net has changed this fact. It's only made it easier for those who seek quality music to find it easier.
That doesn't mean I discount the Net as an avenue for artists and songwriters to promote themselves and make some money. I just haven't seen the killer app that blows the old paradigm (I hate that word, but it fits) away and allows these folks to reach a larger audience.
I hope that rambling made some sense to you and I appreciate your thoughts on it. In fact, you've gotten me thinking about a third installment that addresses the issue you brought up. Thank you.
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I'm aware that I got the backwards compatibility thing ass backwards.
"meaning people will be able to play your files on their existing devices, but MP3's won't work on your products."
It should be the other way around.