{"id":972,"date":"2007-10-12T16:54:34","date_gmt":"2007-10-13T00:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2007\/10\/12\/total-music-service\/"},"modified":"2007-10-12T16:54:34","modified_gmt":"2007-10-13T00:54:34","slug":"total-music-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2007\/10\/12\/total-music-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Total Music Service"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Universal Music Takes on iTunes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

1. Price matters.\u00c2\u00a0 If it didn’t, the PC wouldn’t have trumped the Mac the first time around.<\/p>\n

2. Music is important, but so is software.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s a reason AOL cleaned up in the first Internet wave, it was USABLE!\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, AOL’s model was eventually eclipsed, but it took ten years, and it wasn’t about cost, but service.\u00c2\u00a0 You could get broadband from your cable company for, in many cases, the same price as AOL’s inferior dialup.\u00c2\u00a0 iTunes and the iPod are a seamless solution.\u00c2\u00a0 So far, no one has come close to replicating either, never mind the combined effect of both.\u00c2\u00a0 The Zune is a brick without easy navigation, and Sony’s history is littered with undesirable players, never mind unfathomable software and the now deceased Connect.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not only about the cost, after all, Apple succeeded by releasing the most expensive MP3 player back in 2001, with the $400 iPod, but the EXPERIENCE!<\/p>\n

3. People want to own their music.\u00c2\u00a0 They will give up ownership when rental FEELS like ownership.\u00c2\u00a0 Try synching a Sansa to Rhapsody, then tell me Total can work.\u00c2\u00a0 I believe a rental-style model will succeed in the future, but not the near future.\u00c2\u00a0 Doug would be better off licensing P2P or authorizing an eMusic model for major label product in the interim.<\/p>\n

4. Apple is not the enemy.\u00c2\u00a0 To demonize Apple is akin to blaming the Bay City Rollers for killing music.\u00c2\u00a0 Turns out most people just don’t want to pay a buck a track.\u00c2\u00a0 Give Doug kudos for trying a new business model, but Apple is an ally.\u00c2\u00a0 According to Universal, Apple’s crime is keeping 30 cents on the dollar – what, a retailer can’t make a profit anymore?\u00c2\u00a0 Not allowing Universal variable pricing, i.e. higher prices?\u00c2\u00a0 A better solution is to go in partnership with Apple, have Apple run the Total service.\u00c2\u00a0 You know why?\u00c2\u00a0 Because the Apple faithful will follow the company anywhere.\u00c2\u00a0 Because Steve Jobs can sell ice to Inuits.\u00c2\u00a0 Only Steve could convince the public to go with rental today, that’s how much power he has.\u00c2\u00a0 Still, most people won’t.\u00c2\u00a0 But they’ll believe a service from Apple will work, they won’t believe a service from ANYBODY ELSE will work.<\/p>\n

5. Installed base.\u00c2\u00a0 Better idea is a way to fill the iPods that already exist.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t abandon your base.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, iPod owners are music lovers.\u00c2\u00a0 And they’re more dedicated to Apple than almost any act.<\/p>\n

6. Get over yourself.\u00c2\u00a0 Doug Morris is not stupid, but he’s an old wave player failing miserably in a new world.\u00c2\u00a0 He knows how to sign talent.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe develop it.\u00c2\u00a0 But if he knew how to sell it, Universal wouldn’t be in shit shape financially.\u00c2\u00a0 The way out is to license your music to everybody, let the techies develop the new model, in concert with the public.\u00c2\u00a0 Trying to convince the public to go your way, when you have no idea of what they want, and no familiarity with tech, is like trying to sell Vudu boxes.<\/p>\n

7. The talent Doug needs does not need Doug.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, if he can find a way to get them paid, they’re interested.\u00c2\u00a0 But, Radiohead, Madonna, the Charlatans, Jamiroquai, Oasis and the Eagles would rather be in business with someone who truly has bucks, who’s not going to fuck with them, who doesn’t have a history of screwing them, like Apple, like Fortune 500 companies.\u00c2\u00a0 Why take pennies from Doug when you can get millions from Wal-Mart?<\/p>\n

8. Unlock the music.\u00c2\u00a0 As Jim Griffin always says, license the anarchy.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather than telling every restaurant and coffee shop to stop playing music, or getting them to write down each and every song they play, get a fee, then divvy it up amongst rights holders.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s kind of like YouTube.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of trying to get people NOT to use copyrighted music in their videos, find out a way to get PAID FOR THIS USE!\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of suing people to stop trading, instead of trying to convince them to rent instead of buy, license\/charge them for their present use, and follow the evolution of technology.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of saying no, say yes.\u00c2\u00a0 Doug and Universal’s days as a monopoly are done.\u00c2\u00a0 If their shareholders had a say, if their boards truly understood the business, they’d say to STOP LEAVING MONEY ON THE TABLE!\u00c2\u00a0 Make deals with everybody.\u00c2\u00a0 Acknowledge what’s really going on.\u00c2\u00a0 STOP trying to convince people to do what you want them to.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Universal Music Takes on iTunes 1. Price matters.\u00c2\u00a0 If it didn’t, the PC wouldn’t have trumped the Mac the first time around. 2. Music is important, but so is software.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s a reason AOL cleaned up in the first Internet wave, it was USABLE!\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, AOL’s model was eventually eclipsed, but it took ten years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-fG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/972\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}