LONDON (Hypebot) –
INTRODUCTION AND A UK ACTION PLAN
Next: Off With Their Heads
Last week we listed the Top 10 Issues Facing Music 2.0 which started a debate both on Hypebot and other blogs. But what can the industry do to save itself? We'll explore that question and give our suggestions this week on Hypebot including your ideas. To get the discussion started, here's a 5 point action plan from two UK firms, Leading Question and Music Ally, based on their research:
1. Music needs to be bundled with other products and entertainment packages: Value can be created from many other ways than consumers simply buying the occasional download. Music needs to move away from per unit sales and become more of a service than a product. It should be pre-loaded into devices, bundled with mobile tariffs, offered as part of TV/Entertainment/ISP packages.
2. Labels needs to experiment with new release schedules and formats: The old model of single and album releases has run its course. Labels needs to be more innovative if they are not to be freezed out altogether. Look at the likes of Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and Prince and experiment with new and varied formats, new pricing models and release schedules, digital only releases and promotional partnerships with brands.
3. Free doesn’t mean no money: The music industry should not fear free. It needs to…
embrace it. The culture of the net is free or at least feeling free. But money can still be made from other sources: everything from advertising supported services, to brands paying for an association with the artists to newspapers paying for giveaway CDs.
4. Change the charts: The Charts don’t make much sense anymore. Now that fewer and fewer people are buying music the charts need to reflect the other ways that people are consuming music.
5. Trust the DJ: Online means anyone can access or own John Peel’s entire record collection, but the instant and massive availability of music on demand means you need a trusted guide like John Peel more than ever. The new layers of value will come from the social connections that come about through music as much as from the music itself.
