Yes, music will earn you money

Serra · Post by **Serra** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:28 am

I have been listening to musicians complain about the internet, piracy etc. True. However, this will change. Telephone networks are getting very powerful. Streaming services will also be available with great quality on your ipods and telephones. Most of the volume will come from streaming, like radio, but with full play history control. The volume will be so high it might be people really do not pay for music, but companies will everytime you see their logo when your favorite song is playing. This is already true for tv, film and games because it is easy to control when the music is being used. However, with the expansion of broadband networks, this will also be true for most of retail music consumption. We are in the valley, but the future is bright.

adventurepants_ · Post by **adventurepants_** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:31 am

ive been told that this is 'just around the corner' for about 10 years now!

Serra · Post by **Serra** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:34 am

The networks were not available 10 years ago, most developed countries have ok networks and this will improve very quickly from now. Also business models were not yet mature for this 10 years ago, now there are players like google with youtube and many others paying back content creators. We are at the tipping point.

adventurepants_ · Post by **adventurepants_** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:52 am

Serra wrote:The networks were not available 10 years ago, most developed countries have ok networks and this will improve very quickly from now. Also business models were not yet mature for this 10 years ago, now there are players like google with youtube and many others paying back content creators. We are at the tipping point.

i dont think so. the people who own the publishing rights, are trying as hard as they can to hold on to their dying model. think of the tactics of the RIAA in the US, criminalising their customers. they are actively resisting any kind of meaningful digital distribution model. I mean Itunes is great, but why would i pay (in Australia) more for a low bit rate DRMd copy of a song, when i can buy the physical CD cheaper?

I think we are still a way off from the 'all you can eat' pay a monthly fee for all the music you want model.

lola · Post by **lola** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:23 am

How to convince a generation that has been used to get everything for free to pay for things????

Serra · Post by **Serra** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:52 am

Yes, I agree with both of you...

the thing is, when the networks allow for songs to be properly streamed, people won't have to pay to listen to them as advertisers will be happy to do it. You will listen to your songs and publishers will get paid similar as if the song was playing on the radio. This is another discussion however as there is still debate over this formula. However, when this becomes mainstream distribution, any cent per song will be worth a lot to publishers.

adventurepants_ · Post by **adventurepants_** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:59 am

Serra wrote:Yes, I agree with both of you...

the thing is, when the networks allow for songs to be properly streamed, people won't have to pay to listen to them as advertisers will be happy to do it. You will listen to your songs and publishers will get paid similar as if the song was playing on the radio. This is another discussion however as there is still debate over this formula. However, when this becomes mainstream distribution, any cent per song will be worth a lot to publishers.

thats another point. Im very uninterested in listening to low bit rate, compressed, and streamed music, that has a lower fidelity than FM radio! besides i refuse to voluntarily listen to advertising.

it makes me laugh that our parents on average listened to music in higher fidelity than we do today!

Serra · Post by **Serra** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:06 am

yes, the quality of the streaming is still an issue today, but not for long at least for mainstream. broadband pipes are getting bigger and faster and so is data compression technology. and even if the file needs to be downloaded to your device while you listen to the song, this will be done very quickly. so much is possible today that was unthinkable a few years ago.

adventurepants_ · Post by **adventurepants_** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:24 am

Serra wrote:yes, the quality of the streaming is still an issue today, but not for long at least for mainstream. broadband pipes are getting bigger and faster and so is data compression technology. and even if the file needs to be downloaded to your device while you listen to the song, this will be done very quickly. so much is possible today that was unthinkable a few years ago.

people today think that a file encoded at 128 is acceptable quality, enough to pay money for. i seriously doubt the distributors will spend a dime above what they think the majority will be will to accept.

thats not music to me, thats a demo, a sketch of a song, not the actual sounds of a song.

are you doing market research for a distributor start up?

timothyallan · Post by **timothyallan** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:58 am

When do you tell us about your groundbreaking service you wish us to subscribe to?

creature · Post by **creature** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 8:18 am

I think things like napster are the way to go. I pay 9pounds a months and I can downlaod anything I like. It is a great way to check out new music, is legal, and the artists gets payed for each track played.

crumhorn · Post by **crumhorn** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:02 am

Royalties for record/CD sales have always been crap - unless you fall into the superstar category. Most recording musicians have traditionally made there money from getting their music played on radio stations and jukeboxes or selling merchandise at gigs.

If enough people appreciate your music there will always be ways to make money from it.

Serra · Post by **Serra** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:19 am

I wish I was launching such service, and I definitely will if I have a chance to. I have worked a lot with internet, music and video services online in the past but this post is just me watching the world and making an educated guess.

For now the 'service' I have is similar to everyone else's in this forum, which is making music. I am keen on the future.

Crumhorn is right about radio play versus CDs etc. The problem with radio is it doesn't give as much opportunities for niches and new artists as it does for established ones due to hit economics - it needs to make the most out of that one song it can play in that time fragment.

Also, sure we don't want to listen to adverts before listening to songs, but we don't mind images, we don't have to look at them anyway right?

thesmallisbeautiful · Post by **thesmallisbeautiful** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:12 pm

edit:double post.

thesmallisbeautiful · Post by **thesmallisbeautiful** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:12 pm

lola wrote:How to convince a generation that has been used to get everything for free to pay for things????

They are willing to pay 2.99 for a 15 second ringtone of a song they won't spend 99 cents to download in it's entirety. People LOVE to spend money when it comes down to it. it's just that downloading stuff for free is way easier still. People buy bottled water when the tap water is higher quality. People spend money in a heartbeat if it saves them the slightest bit of effort. People already listen to music on their phones, which are connected to the internet. A service that streams unlimited music of your choice with a monthly fee is a really good idea, people will pay for it because it saves them the trouble of downloading and storing tons of music. It's not that far off right now.

When I lived in Brooklyn, I listened to Pandora on my iphone 90% of the time I was out of the house. Pandora doesn't work in Berlin so I stopped, but if I could pay even 30 euros a month for something that gives me a slightly improved version I would be happy to pay it. I think lots of people would.

I mean, have you seen kids these days? They spend more money in a week than I had in a year when I was their age.