The music industry is undergoing one of the most intense periods of change in its history. These words will offer my insights and opinion on these changes.
THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
In my previous post, I explained Why Spotify’s Social Strategy is Fundamentally Flawed. There’s an obvious distinction between Actively and Passively shared updates, and Spotify’s use of the latter has negatively affected both its growth and value. Facebook made the same mistake when games such as Zynga’s ‘Farmville’ encouraged passively shared updates. Feeds were filled with […]
Facebook and Spotify have often said that sharing is an inherent human trait. I disagree. Active vs Passive Sharing ACTIVE sharing, when we deliberately take time and effort to share what we like, is a human trait. It demands attention on both sides, and increases the content’s value. PASSIVE sharing, an automated feed of things […]
Rumours are that Google Play will soon launch outside the US. The music industry will be overjoyed to see a player of Google’s size enter the market, hoping they’ll sell music to a whole new demographic just as iTunes did a decade ago. However, this will be a different beast entirely, with new lessons to […]
I often hear thoughts like.… “Yes music being everywhere is convenient, but it makes it less special. I don’t savour the act of buying or listening anymore. That trip to my local indie shop and placing the record on the turntable for the first time was SPECIAL. Streaming music never will be.” I beg to differ. […]
Spotify have added some key features in their latest update, which you can download here. Essentially, it removes the need to ever use the iTunes client to get music from your PC to your iPod Classic, Touch, or iPhone. Here’s a lovely video that explains it better than words. For 10 years, Apple have been the […]
Following on from my detailed look into What A Music Fan Wants To Own and Why, we are left with a lot of problems to solve. If nobody wants to own music anymore, what will they pay for? If Sky have managed to charge people £50/month for content the customer doesn’t own, it can’t be […]
I’ve spent my teenage and adult life obsessing over my music collection. Meticulously arranging hand labelled tapes and CD’s was FUN, but when the same job arrived for mp3’s and my collection swelled to 125gb’s, it became a massive chore. But I still felt compelled to own something, and so I continued for many years, […]
I used to think that when it came to listening to music, what I and everybody else wanted was simple. We wanted everything, now and forever, wherever we are. And if we enjoyed the process, we’ll pay for it too (honestly, we will). But this isn’t strictly the case. Choice Paralysis Spotify Premium offers just this, […]
Some time in mid-late 2011, p2p file sharers in the UK will receive letters warning them that if they ignore this and subsequent warnings, they will have their internet bandwidth narrowed, or be disconnected for a period of time. Last week I wrote an update on the DEA, where I stressed that it will be […]
It’s been over 6 months since I wrote my summary of the Digital Economy Bill, and my thoughts on it. Since then the last breaths of the Labour government successfully pushed this through, and it became the Digital Economy Act. So here’s where we are now. Communications minister Ed Vaizey has said that government expect […]
Firstly, this is not post written from a snobby pedestal bashing pop music for being shallow and vacuous. It’s a thought into how the public value music, a subject under the spotlight in recent years. The Black Eyes Peas have a new song (listen here) that will, without doubt, be a huge hit. It’s called […]
Cee-Lo’s ‘Fuck You’ was an internet sensation on August 20, 2010. Warners cleverly launched the song with a video that just displayed the lyrics , currently sitting on almost 7 million hits. They followed it up a couple of weeks later with the official clip, currently over 10 million views. Then why did it take […]
Rupert Murdoch built Sky on the premise that he’d give people what they already had, but better packaged. The idea that a household would pay £50/month for TV, when they already have access to 20 free channels, would have sounded unbelievable in 1990. Now he has a business so large that Government may have to […]
Here’s an introduction to each of the legal ways you can listen to the playlists I will be constantly updating. Some you may have heard of, some you may not have, some will suit your needs, and some will not. Experiment, try something new, tell me what you think of them, and let me know […]
Here are some of my thoughts on the contents of the bill, and it’s repercussions on the music industry at large. You can read my previous post about what the bill actually is here. If you only have time to read a little, please read the final section. We need to control online piracy with firm […]
This week, The Digital Economy Bill is being passed through the House Of Commons. Though I am aware that some of you have been following it’s progression with interest, most were not aware of it until it was the subject of last Monday’s Panorama documentary. Last Monday’s show, entitled ‘Are The Net Police Coming For […]
Here’s a thought as I travel home on the tube. I’ve always stolen music because I could never afford to buy all that I wanted. However, the guy who doesn’t really care for music has always been able to afford all that he wants. Surely there’s a way to make that right? You’re an artist with […]
I find this topic fascinating, as it is at the crux of any argument regarding where the music industry is headed. Please be aware that in the below rant, I am largely discussing the masses’ interaction with pop music, i.e music that finds itself towards the top of the sales charts. I’ll start with the […]
I’m not gonna dwell on this as it’s already old news and frankly enough has been said on the subject, but here is the unedited rant that in part prompted me to start this blog. I suddenly realised that I had nowhere to write such drivel, and so with hours remaining in the race I […]
