Month: January 2008

As we travel further and further down the road of music commerce, more exit ramps pop up with the solution to the problem of illegal downloads.

Radiohead gave fans the chance to pay as much as they wanted for their new record [even if that amount was $0]. This story was covered in Bluegrass Now magazine. [!]

Trent Reznor, the man behind rock outfit ‘nine inch nails’, suggests a tax at the Internet Service Provider [ISP] level to offset the impact of illegal downloads. While this would be fraught with imperfections, it sounds vaguely similar to the tariff on audio cassettes and Digital Audio Tapes.

Rick Rubin, record producer superman, posits a subscription model; pay a the portal, rather than the ISP. Several services have been doing this for some time, like Rhapsody.

Perhaps the most unexpected response is the resurgence of vinyl LP records. Time magazine has a feature on this, and they have some frankly surprising statistics:

…990,000 vinyl albums were sold in 2007, up 15.4% from the 858,000 units bought in 2006.

The article points out that this will not be taking over the digital realm of music distribution anytime soon, but that it is the manifestation of the “equal and opposite reaction” phenomenon we see in physics and pop culture.

There has been no shortage of discussion on how the line between content consumers and creators is being more and more blurred. A number of artist have offered tracks up for remix, whole albums, artwork, etc.

Now, it appears that there is a new group in Dodge that is looking to gather like-minded folks around this very directive. It is called CASH [for Coalition for Artists and Stakeholders.] Before the Wu-Tang Clan refrain of “cash rules everything around me” begins, look at what the group is set to do:

CASH Music: a Coalition of Artists and Stake Holders. CASH is a platform for engagement. A way for audiences and creators to exchange creative perspectives and ideas. Why is this good? Because it’s how thing are now — and in our humble opinion it’s a change for the better. An engaged and participating audience has a stake in the continuation and existence of the artistic output. An engaged audience is a healthy, vibrant ‘scene’ grown up around creative works.

They are using the Creative Commons licensing concept to eventually let fans do legally what they have been doing in basements and garages for years. And, they are letting them post it near the original conceptions. It is a subscription based model, offering at least some semblance of a business model. Keep an eye on it!