There’s been a lot of breaking news in the last month, which means plenty of fresh entries at FutureBlog. Here’s a recap, in case you missed them:
Breaking Artists, and New Definitions of Success
It’s 2010. We are now in an environment where revenue streams for artists have exploded, if not in cash dollars, than certainly in the number of places an act can earn money. In addition to the “traditional” revenue streams like retail sales (tracked by SoundScan), now we’ve got bands that have built up incredible fan bases that tour North America — even the world — without significant radio airplay or even noticeable retail movement. You’ll see punk bands selling 35,000 t-shirts at Hot Topic. There’s indie-rockers licensing songs for iPod commercials and underground hipster acts on the Jimmy Fallon show. And, although a lot of these activities are done to promote record sales, they also count as revenue streams. Sometimes really, really big revenue streams.
And no doubt the landscape will continue to change. Perhaps instead of arguing about how a particular artist sold 10,000 albums we should be asking ourselves if retail sales are still the best metric of success. Will they be a relevant measure as new revenue streams mature and consumer trends evolve? Most importantly, how will we quantify artists’ success five or ten years from now? (read more)
OK, Now What?
In 2006, OK Go’s video for “Here It Goes Again” — also affectionately known as “the treadmill video”— became a web sensation. By decade’s end, it had been viewed approximately 50 million times — no small feat for a homemade clip.
Fast-forward to 2010. OK Go releases its newest album, Of the Blue Color of the Sky, still on the EMI imprint. To coincide with its release, the band creates another insanely clever and watchable video, this time for a tune called “This Too Shall Pass.” Rinse and repeat, right? Not so fast.
Unlike “Here It Goes Again,” OK Go’s latest video has been restricted for embedding via YouTube (at the label’s request), thereby reducing its viral potential. Additionally, EMI has been reluctant to issue licenses for viewing outside the United States. (read more)
Warner Backs Away From Free Music Streaming
Last week, reports emerged about Warner Music backing off of “free” music streaming. As digital entrepreneurs and rights holders continue to explore ways to get fully-licensed music to the masses via the internet and mobile, issues in licensing and revenue generation continue to bedevil players on all sides.
It’s clear that ad-supported services face considerable challenges, particularly where licensing costs remain prohibitive. But is this the full story? (read more)
Court Update: Major Labels and Digital Price Fixing
For those of you who griped that now-defunct digital downloading platforms like MusicNet and PressPlay were too expensive — “prices like these should be illegal!” — the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals has taken a significant step towards validating your opinion.
When digital-downloads became the craze during the last decade, the major labels (Sony, EMI, Warner, and Universal) were expected to wield significant influence. Turns out, they became such big players that, between them, they accounted for about four-fifths of all the digital music sold in this country.
Not long after digital music services debuted, savvy consumers began to notice that: A), the price tag on these downloads did not seem to accurately reflect the true worth of the products (although determining the “true worth” of music is obviously its own sticky wicket), and B), the wholesale prices charged (i.e., the amount the retailers had to pay the major labels on a song-by-song basis) were strikingly similar: about seventy cents a pop. When compared to the price-per-song charged by eMusic — which sold music owned by independent labels at a quarter per download (and had no DRM restrictions) — it began to look suspicious. (read more)