Comments on: Music – meet your saviour

By: Danny Williamson

Danny Williamson — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:13:09 +0000

Here’s the latest:

Reznor Grosses $1.6 Million In The First Week Of Ghosts I-IV from the nope,-no-way-for-musicians-to-make-money-at-all dept Last week, we noted that Trent Reznor’s latest experiment with business models had resulted in selling out the exclusive deluxe edition of his latest Nine Inch Nails offering, grossing $750,000. That, of course, didn’t include any of the lower level sales. Reznor has now released the news that in the first week alone, the project has grossed $1.6 million in revenue, despite the fact that the music was widely available for free download (some of that helped along by Reznor himself). How long until someone says that there’s no way to make money giving away music again?

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080313/171933538.shtml

By: Ian Da Silva

Ian Da Silva — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:07:32 +0000

Vincent, you’re absolutely right. The “industry” is about much more than recording – it’s all 360 degrees. From a 360 perspective (concerts, merchandise, equipment) the industry is still quite healthy, and in many ways doing better than ever before. The revenue generated on ringtones alone has been enough to boost many artists to multi-million dollar sales – pretty impressive for a six-second snippet. On top of that, concerts are selling out at record pace, and tickets are selling at unprecedented prices – so in fact, the “industry” is doing quite well.

One of the keys to success, as you mention is to start delivering more value (or a la Reznor, and letting customers decide how much value they want). I, much like many people, am tired of the whining of a “losing industry”.

The inspiration behind this post actually came when I was at a conference last week to kick off Canadian Music Week. I was listenting to a panel discussion in which a Managing Director from one of the “big labels” must have quipped three or four times that “artists need the labels for ‘protection’”. This was his response to any challenge or question about what should become the labels’ new role in the ever-changing industry. I was really hoping for more insight than “you need us”.

Where I appreciate Reznor’s savoir-faire and respect the loyalty that he has created is in being able to strike out on his own as a free agent and still maintain (if not exceed) his past performance under the protection of a label.

By: Vincent Clement

Vincent Clement — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:49:27 +0000

This post falls for the fallacy that equates the music industry with the recording industry. The music industry is more than record companies. It’s concerts. It’s musical equipment. And so on.

The music industry was never dead. In fact it is thriving. It is the recording industry as represented by the RIAA and IFPI that is dying.

So long as the RIAA and IFPI continue on piracy, lawsuits and draconian copyright laws, the recording industry is heading for failure and quickly. They need to focus on increasing the value of their product to consumers.