Music industry tries carrot after years of stick

[needlefingers]

Music industry tries carrot after years of stick

Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:00am EST
By Kate Holton

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Away from the headlines of job losses, grumbling artists and falling global sales, the music industry is trying new business models to boost digital sales and offset the fall in CD sales.

At the annual industry meeting on the French coast this week, much of the talk was dominated by a new service called Qtrax, which plastered all available space with huge posters declaring the CD dead and estimating that over 1.2 billion illegal downloads would be made during the event itself.

Qtrax, which allows fans to download songs for free, was launched on Monday with the backing of major labels and claims to have over 25 million copyrighted tracks.

As a legal online file-sharing site, it will be funded through advertising, and its launch follows criticism from some that the music industry has been distracted by the fight against piracy, when it should have been developing alternative services.

CARROT AND STICK

Janus Friis, who once terrified the media industry with file-sharing network KaZaa, told the Midem conference that the industry was beginning to move from the "stick" to the "carrot" approach, citing legal online services Last.fm and Imeem as leading examples.

"You have the carrot and you have the stick, and you kind of need to use both, but the carrot has become much more important," he said. "Last.fm and Imeem are beginning to be great Internet services."

London-based Last.fm has more than 15 million active users and is known for its song-recommendation system amongst fans. It also announced a deal last week to allow users to stream a song for free, up to three times, while a link connects a user to a legitimate music store such as Amazon or iTunes.

Social network Imeem is also built around music, is supported by advertising and boasts 20 million users. Steve Jang, Imeem's chief marketing officer, told Reuters the site commanded great loyalty from its users because it was much more than just a retail offering.

As part of the transition, U2 manager Paul McGuinness told the conference that the time had come for new thinking on how the music and technology sectors worked together, saying their "snouts have been at our trough feeding free for too long".

He touted the idea that music could be provided as part of a subscription service for an Internet service provider in the same way that some mobile phone companies have worked, with the revenue being shared.

But it is not just the payment systems that are changing.

When Guy Hands, the new owner of British major EMI, unveiled his plans for the struggling group recently, he said he would look into the role of corporate sponsorship arrangements, where an album or tour could be backed by a sponsor.

Veteran music promoter Harvey Goldsmith told Reuters that the idea of combining musicians with a brand was not new, but warned it had to be handled carefully.

"Some acts like the Arctic Monkeys would think their street cred was under attack," he said. "But the truth is it's an opportunity. You have to remember that a band is also a brand, and if you can link the two and it makes sense, then it's cool.

"But it's just as valid for new, up-and-coming acts as the established ones, because what better credibility can a big brand have than discovering a new band."

(Editing by Will Waterman)

Music industry tries carrot after years of stick | Entertainment | Reuters

[DISCODISK]

Qtrax
i think its no so straight forward, i believe everytime you want to listen to a track youve downloaded you have to hear an ad

[needlefingers]

Also, I think most new bands and acts tend to be young and antiestablisment. They don't want to be sponsored by Starbucks or Staples.

And these corporations will also have say so over song composition and material. Which will mean a sanitised version of music. Or else there will be boycotts of their product(s).

It seems to me that all a band will need in the future is a cross between an agent and marketer. Someone who will promote their music on the internet, handle the downloading, and book their live appearances.

In the future there will be no need for large music labels. The act will be able to handle it all themselves.

But I don't see the heads at Sony seeing this coming.

[discokicks]

Record labels seem to be backing out....

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Labels deny deals on file sharing


I find this much more interesting....

Free Music Downloads - Music Promotion - We7

It's a music site offering free downloads of songs by unsigned artists waiting to be discovered! The free download has a short ad within it (10 seconds max) and the artist gets paid for each download...and if you like the song enough and want it without the ad, you have the opportunity to pay for the ad-less mp3 as well.

[Videoskooter]

Originally Posted by DISCODISK

Qtrax
i think its no so straight forward, i believe everytime you want to listen to a track youve downloaded you have to hear an ad

Just read an article in our papers today where they interviewed the boss of the Belgian anti-piracy foundation IFPI. He stressed that the big recordcompanies were very tempted and supportive for this initiative but...haven't given their permission to download...yet.

And yes, the profits will come from the advertisements, that's the "price" you pay for this service. Maybe this will work, maybe it won't. Let's wait awhile:

Qtrax