The reason they can’t hire anybody is everybody with a shred of tech knowledge knows it’s going to be a disaster.\u00c2\u00a0 MySpace is so 2006…\u00c2\u00a0 And its software\/interface sucks.\u00c2\u00a0 And there was no traction with Snocap…\u00c2\u00a0 So suddenly, because fat cats found out social networking\/Web 2.0 was the next big thing, they’re going to anoint this lame site as the future and their word will come true when it’s already the past?<\/p>\n
First and foremost, iTunes rules because of the interface.\u00c2\u00a0 A place where MySpace scores negatively, if that’s possible, inundated with ads\/promotions so Fox can make its investment back.\u00c2\u00a0 Permission marketing?\u00c2\u00a0 It looks like 1999.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t see them selling the space on iTunes for Google ads like Sony Music, which is why Apple’s stock is through the roof and BMG sold for a pittance.<\/p>\n
If you want to make a splash in the selling of music, you’ve got to deliver something different.\u00c2\u00a0 And seeing how there’s a minimum fixed cost to tracks, I don’t see how MySpace can eclipse iTunes, especially since it lacks its own hand-held player…there’s only half an ecosystem, at best!<\/p>\n
If the labels want to leapfrog in front of the public, put a dent in iTunes, they’re going to have to do two things…\u00c2\u00a0 Lower the price and deliver more cluck for the buck.<\/p>\n
Sounds like the same thing, I know…\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s not.<\/p>\n
If you’re going to sell by track, and that’s not the future, that’s like asking the cell companies to change their paradigm from one of subscription to pay by call, like asking cable companies to sell channels individually instead of by package, you’ve got to sell them really damn cheap.\u00c2\u00a0 And since the biggest publishers are Universal and EMI, they can afford to do this.\u00c2\u00a0 Lower prices across the board.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, the artists will scream, because they’re getting screwed, and they’re right, which is why there’s never any progress.<\/p>\n
So we’ve got to start out with fairness.\u00c2\u00a0 In order to survive with power, the labels have to have fair deals and transparent accounting.\u00c2\u00a0 But their business model is heinous deals and specious accounting.\u00c2\u00a0 So, they’re screwed.\u00c2\u00a0 Who’s going to change the model?<\/p>\n
And the publishers don’t want to get screwed either, but with the big kahunas owning their own publishing companies, chances can be taken, but they won’t, because they don’t want to devalue music, even though the value of music is now zilch, as in free.<\/p>\n
But, when I say more cluck for the buck, this is where the labels can execute their secret weapon.\u00c2\u00a0 Subscription without DRM that includes ownership.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe a la eMusic.\u00c2\u00a0 For a low fee, you get a bunch of tracks every month.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not about a new store, BUT A NEW BUSINESS PROPOSITION!<\/p>\n
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