Coolfer: Today's Playlist Sites Are No Boon For Labels
Tripp Edwards
· 11 months ago
As a unknown creator of music, I look at the new online resources of free/streaming music as a way to release my music to a worldwide market of people who want to find and listen to something other than what Clear Channel is feeding them. I have all my self-released material available on CD and in the online stores, but what good does it do me if no one knows that I exist. I feel that labels should try to get on the leading edge of internet consumption and quit trying to fix a damn that has already burst.
Jon Healey
· 1 year ago
Hey, nice, well thought out piece. But let me offer a quibble and a more substantive argument in opposition. First, the piece was an LA Times editorial, not an op-ed. The former are written by newspaper staffers, and they're an expression of the institution's views. The latter are just items picked for the Times' public bullentin board, as it were.
Second, you write, "Don't concentrate just on what sales come from experiencing music on the Internet. Consider what sales are being lost as a result." You're not suggesting that the labels can control sales by trying to reduce the supply of music online, are you? After a decade of trying in vain to do just that, isn't it time to recognize that it simply isn't possible? The point should be to extract as much money as possible from the consumption of music online, wherever it happens. That doesn't mean signing deals with everybody -- a valid business model should be a prerequisite, and it's clear that places like Muxtape and Mixwit don't qualify. But deep-sixing Project Playlist et al. won't boost CD sales, it will simply lead people to other sources of music online. If the point of stiffing Project Playlist is to drive folks to iMeem and Last.FM, well, OK. That makes some sense economically. But if the labels are simply trying to block aggregators of online MP3s from emerging, that's a lost cause.
Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times
Robin
· 1 year ago
Great read.
Thanks for the wonderful blog and happy holidays.
Rob
Fred
· 1 year ago
Record labels, pay attention to the last paragraph!
All Comments
Second, you write, "Don't concentrate just on what sales come from experiencing music on the Internet. Consider what sales are being lost as a result." You're not suggesting that the labels can control sales by trying to reduce the supply of music online, are you? After a decade of trying in vain to do just that, isn't it time to recognize that it simply isn't possible? The point should be to extract as much money as possible from the consumption of music online, wherever it happens. That doesn't mean signing deals with everybody -- a valid business model should be a prerequisite, and it's clear that places like Muxtape and Mixwit don't qualify. But deep-sixing Project Playlist et al. won't boost CD sales, it will simply lead people to other sources of music online. If the point of stiffing Project Playlist is to drive folks to iMeem and Last.FM, well, OK. That makes some sense economically. But if the labels are simply trying to block aggregators of online MP3s from emerging, that's a lost cause.
Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times
Thanks for the wonderful blog and happy holidays.
Rob