Once the genie was let out of the bottle in the music industry with downloading through Napster and the sucessful a-la-carte model of ITunes the music industry has no leg to stand on. Moreover, with bands like Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Oasis, Jamiroquai giving away their album for free, and giving fans the option to "pay what they think it is worth" has revealed that the fat-music label-middleman-emperor has been standing naked all along.
The fact that what used to be a product packaged in a decorative sleeve and packaging, has now been distilled down to a downloadable file has definately altered the "face" and value of the music. Tracks are not even on the appetizer part of the diner menu, but the packet of Ketchup on the side. The concept of the "Concept album" is long over.
So how can music be monetized now?
I recently read an article about Guitar Hero increasing sales for older artists. Pat Benatar, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Joan Jett are amongst many that have seen their catalog sales boost as much as 30% in last couple of years as the popularity of Guitar Hero and Rock Band have gone through the ceiling. This is not new news, and as a matter of fact, Wired Magazine was reporting a year ago of this trend. What IS interesting, is that bands are now marketing and releasing New singles via Guitar Hero.
Some nay-sayers feel that they would not be interested in new singles, but would rather play songs they know. (Obviously, one advantage is if you know the song already you can anticipate the notes coming up).
If the new singles were bundled with the older genre-related music, and promoted correctly, I think there could be a nice sweet spot hit for the music labels.
If the walled gardened labels are to survive, they need to rely on partnerships to help promote tracks with 3rd Party products or services.
What if, for example, there is a one day concert or event that fans could get an exclusive video or track sent to their mobile ? What if they can collect a whole album by going to various places in a city to download?
The monetization dollar for the label is paid through partnerships beforehand or advertisment.
Give the public something free first, build credibility, and let the public decide the value.
At the end of the day, the labels are using the new tracks as promotional tools for different products, rather than the tracks being the product they are pimping. T-shirts, back catalog and yes...future video game licenses will build sales.
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