Can “Freemium” work for the music biz.?

The concept of Freemium has always intrigued me…. but I wonder if there’s a valid business model in there? Can we give away music for free and find other higher valued services to charge consumers for? e.g. Charge consumers for special limited addition DVDs, merchandise, the ability to interact directly with their favourite musicians etc.

We already see this model manifest itself in the form of the present day music consumer who would download a song through torrents and then spend a considerable amount of money in attending live shows, buying merchandise etc. Under this model its the music marketers that are getting left out! So, if record labels could find a way to sell certain premium services beyond just the music (and hence give away music for free), we might actually have a solution on our hands. I’d like to see what you have to say about FREEMIUM on our discussion board.

Why is it important to distribute music for free?

The answer to this question is very simple…just as we have evolved as a species, so has technology. Today it is practically impossible to prevent someone from sharing files. No matter how many websites get taken down through litigation, there will always be a new one cropping up.  So, the point I’m trying to make is that there’s no point in fighting innovation. Instead, it makes a lot more sense for all of us to invest our energies into finding a better way forward. Thats why we’ve created this website and hopefully artists, small businesses, entrepreneurs and others would take away some interesting ideas from this site and build better businesses.

Pearl Jam: Trying something new

Pearl Jam is trying new ideas…! They’ve decided to provide some added value (or an incentive) to those fans that do decide to purchase their CDs in store or buy the album through their website. Here’s a good review.

Looking at Pearl Jam try these things in 2009 makes me a little disappointed, especially given the amount of buzz they’ve managed to generate with these tactics (they were one of the trending topics yesterday on twitter). The concept of incentives should really have been tried a long time ago (on a much larger scale) - maybe around 2002 / 2003. Today however, I think bands need to do a lot more. Pearl Jam is one of my all time favourite bands and I’m glad they’re trying some new things but its really not going to be enough.

New Models: Marcy Playground - Leaving Wonderland…In A Fit Of Rage

At least some musicians are trying to break the cycle, and this time its Marcy Playground. The band has recently released a new album titled “Leaving Wonderland…in a fit of rage” and has offered their fans access to individual tracks from the various songs. The band has invited their fans to remix and remake their songs and have teamed up with IndabaMusic to achieve this.

Frontman John Wozniak is expected to select the winners and will release the winning tracks in the form of a post-album, album. Marcy Playground will even pay royalties to the winners.

Now, we’ve got to wait and see how things actually turn out.

Marcy Playground Plays Lee's Palace

For all you post-grunge fans out there, this one’s for you!

By the way, Marcy Playground hit the stage at Lee’s on the 17th of Sept at 10:45pm.

Join the blog team

Open Music is looking for passionate bloggers to join the team and advance the cause. If you think you’re interested in being a part of this community, please send an email to: ujwal@openmusic.ca with a small paragraph explaining your intentions.

Live performance revenue is key!

The best way to encourage your favourite musicians is by going and watching them live. If you want free access to music or if you want the ability to share freely, go watch them live. Live performances along with merchandising and licensing have become a major source of artists’ income today. This is especially true for smaller musicians/bands that wouldn’t anyway hope to make much out of CD or digital sales.

Get involved in shaping Canadian Copyright Laws

Speak Out On Copyright - A site launched by Michael Geist, provides a platform for people to voice their opinions on Copyright laws in Canada and take practical action to drive change.