The Music Debate Plays On
There was a panel on ad-supported music at SXSWi and lots of folks are weighing in.
PaidContent has some pretty extensive coverage leading with:
“If what this question means is “can ad-supported music replace album sales on a dollar-for-dollar basis”, then the answer is a resounding no. Nobody on the panel held this view, and nothing in the history of the digital media migration would suggest this is possible. It’s never that easy. If the question is more open-ended and vague, then opinions vary wildly.”
Mashable responded to a Capitol Records exec’s comment that “I need more marketing and promotion on the internet like I need a root canal without anesthetic.” by saying:
“The estimates are wide and varied, but comScore put the net returns for Radiohead’s “pay if you want” scheme at around $10 million. On the other hand, Warner Music Group posted net profits of only $5 million on their entire music catalog.”
Obviously, this debate is still in its infancy. There will be a slew of business models out there from ad-supported to subscription based, but I think Matt Mason summed it up pretty well when he said folks have to ask themselves if they’re in the business of selling little discs or music?
Tags: ad-supported, music, sxsw
Uncategorized | admin | 
March 12, 2008 3:05 pm
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