Industry Shambles

Which industry?

Fair question, recession and all.

This blog is about the Record Industry. And it’s in shambles because it has failed to figure out how to present and sell recorded music in a digital format.

What about iTunes and Amazon and…?  Yeah, they sell “digitized music”. iTunes is even the top music retailer in the United States, over-taking Wal-Mart a year ago. (Digital conquering physical!) But think about what iTunes sells: compressed digital audio files (in their case AAC’s) with album cover artwork. And the free version? Compressed digital audio files (most often MP3 and often with album art). They both sound the same, look the same, play in the same player. The only difference is the price and it is unsustainable.

You can not have an Industry in which production costs but payment for the product is optional. Imagine this with burgers. “But if I go around back, you’re giving away the burgers, so why should I pay for them?” Well, because if you don’t pay for them, there won’t be any money to keep producing them. “Then why are you always giving them away for free?” Because we’re whetting your appetite for fries? “This is a mind-fuck!” I know!

Sorting through these shambles feels less productive than accepting them. It is not the consumer’s fault that the Record Industry hasn’t figured out how to distinguish between digital product and promotion. The consequence, however, is that the current product – compressed digital audio files with or without album art – is essentially promotional and if you’re paying for it, you’re either an altruist or a sucker. And most of us aren’t either. We’re “unique consumers”, which means we are defined by the things we want and if it has a price, we pay for it. And we want music! And it’s being given away! And now – deep breaths – it will be given away forever…

So why not “redefine” the product? An MP3 is really just like a blank tape or a CDR – a secondary source. So why is it indistinguishable from the primary source? The Record Industry had no problem selling cassettes when the popular format was cassette or CDs when the popular format was CD. What did they do then to distinguish between the product and the copy? 

They created a package. While it may not seem like much, the difference between a Maxell cassette scrawled with a song listing and the store-bought “Appetite for Destruction” was revelatory. The garish art, the lyrics, the fold-out, the smell… it connected the consumer to the product in a way that a less dynamic version never could. It gave you the satisfaction of connection. Recorded music was never just about the music – from vinyl through Compact Disc, it was about the package.

So why is digitized music lacking dynamic at precisely the point when technology has mastered the art of dynamic? There’s no good reason, though stubbornness and inefficiency are starters. Meanwhile the cascades of visual stimulation, functionality, connection, the worlds opening in to worlds that we experience every day on the Internet have broken the compressed audio file down to an elementary tool. Literally. Entire generations are growing up that theoretically won’t pay for recorded music once in their lives. But they’ll consume the shit out of it!

They need the option of paying for recorded music in a digital package that is distinct from the one-dimensional MP3. At the very least, this would make the option of buying “product-driven”, instead of conscience-driven. At the most, this digital package could redefine the standard for what we expect from a recorded music product. It could shower us with features. It could connect us to other fans. It could live, in that it could update and expand. It could cut out the middlemen – and the costs! – by connecting the Artist to the audience. It could be the most powerful point of encounter a music fan experiences. It could sell!

And it will. There aren’t better strategies for the future of the Record Industry than a “new model”. And there’s not a better service to fans than the creation of a product they can connect with. The cost of a digital album is the fucking cost of lunch – it’s priced for consumption! And consumed it will be, as soon as the product is distinct from the giveaway.

So this blog is intended to think through, in an open way, strategies that can help shape the future of selling and consuming recorded music. There’s also a working vision, but big whoop. The important thing is that we can construct something incredibly cool out of the shambles – something for the biz, the Artists and the fans alike. Something modern and marvelous. Something true.

Industry Shambles