I think the strategy of suing downloaders has actually worked quite well - P2P downloading has been quite effectively crippled. The labels have targeted the largest nodes (people uploading the most files) for law suits which discourages others from sharing a large quantity of files. To a great extent the user-experience now on P2P music sharing networks is worse than it was a few years ago, and most definately worse than Napster. People are using things like allofmp3 and ripping CDs into mp3s but there is no major P2P network that has massive traction these days.
jamescoops
· 3 years ago
Of course this is only helping to extend the life of the existing business model and not generating new value from new services (like last.fm etc) as you correctly point out.
alanp
· 3 years ago
Nic
There is no way that heavily DRM'd, subscription "rented" music has the same net present value - and thus price - as a clear content CD that cannot be destroyed. Artificially forcing its price up (to make people buy CD's again?) is not a sustainable strategy, so I can only assume this is a stopgap approach to maximise delay in revenue loss - with a huge risk of alienating the customer as you say.
The one that really interests me though is that Long Tail you mentioned. There is a lot of music I would like that I cannot buy any more because it is too old/obscure/foreign etc. Heck, I'd pay *more* for that stuff!
I think there needs to be a href="http://broadstuff.com/archives/17-Evolution-of-Digital-Rights-in-a-Web-World-Use-it-or-lose-it.html">Use it or Lose it concept to stop people sitting on these unpublished rights and not making them available.
we are going working with a partner to deliver $0-$0.98 music via RSS. shoudl be out next week. looking for vc.
nic
· 3 years ago
Thanks for the comments guys.
James - Good points. I just checked and digital music sales in H106 were just shy of $1bn so the music industry is clearly doing something right. You obviously know the music filesharing services well, but I believe Limewire is getting a lot of usage.
Alan - Use it or lose it might be a bit radical!!!
Nick - inclue looks interesting - neat idea, tough market though. California is a bit far afield for us here at Esprit, but good luck with the fundraising.
alan patrick
· 3 years ago
Nic...
I explained more of my thinking in my blog article (address as above), but essentially I think the stuff will probably become available anyway, so by not admitting that will in fact be allowing lost revenues. Help people to help themselves and it may actually be valuable revenue producing content.
mspoke
· 3 years ago
I put a shout out here for iTunes. Most consumers just want somethign simple, in fact I find relatives over the age of 30 even have difficulty understanding iTunes so the thought of downloading MP3 files and using Windows Media Player to transfer to an MP3 player or 'burn' to a disc is never going to happen.
iTunes works because it is so easy to use - to buy, to listen, to transfer to the most popular portable digital music device.
People working in tech industry MUST always take a step back and see, as much as possible, from the average 'joe' point of view. They are not interested in DRM, as long as it works how they want, when they want and where they want they couldn't care less about all this other stuff.
Spiral Frog has to be one of the worst ideas ever - lets actively promote giving away our most valuable asset.
All Comments
There is no way that heavily DRM'd, subscription "rented" music has the same net present value - and thus price - as a clear content CD that cannot be destroyed. Artificially forcing its price up (to make people buy CD's again?) is not a sustainable strategy, so I can only assume this is a stopgap approach to maximise delay in revenue loss - with a huge risk of alienating the customer as you say.
The one that really interests me though is that Long Tail you mentioned. There is a lot of music I would like that I cannot buy any more because it is too old/obscure/foreign etc. Heck, I'd pay *more* for that stuff!
I think there needs to be a href="http://broadstuff.com/archives/17-Evolution-of-Digital-Rights-in-a-Web-World-Use-it-or-lose-it.html">Use it or Lose it concept to stop people sitting on these unpublished rights and not making them available.
grovel.
James - Good points. I just checked and digital music sales in H106 were just shy of $1bn so the music industry is clearly doing something right. You obviously know the music filesharing services well, but I believe Limewire is getting a lot of usage.
Alan - Use it or lose it might be a bit radical!!!
Nick - inclue looks interesting - neat idea, tough market though. California is a bit far afield for us here at Esprit, but good luck with the fundraising.
I explained more of my thinking in my blog article (address as above), but essentially I think the stuff will probably become available anyway, so by not admitting that will in fact be allowing lost revenues. Help people to help themselves and it may actually be valuable revenue producing content.
iTunes works because it is so easy to use - to buy, to listen, to transfer to the most popular portable digital music device.
People working in tech industry MUST always take a step back and see, as much as possible, from the average 'joe' point of view. They are not interested in DRM, as long as it works how they want, when they want and where they want they couldn't care less about all this other stuff.
Spiral Frog has to be one of the worst ideas ever - lets actively promote giving away our most valuable asset.