home  pluginblog Media Models Part 4 - Old Ways, New Ways
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Media Models Part 4 - Old Ways, New Ways |
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Written by tom
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Following on from Part 1, 2 and 3; So, if the old method of sponsorship and advertising (see this great example of a viral ad by Spike Jonze) is back, has the new digital revolution created any new ideas? Yes it has - and it will continue to to. We have seen the term 'Prosumer' develop - a producer-consumer, people who make and consume. Sites like Zipidee.com are hoping to take this vibe and run with it, creating an eBay-type environment for buying and selling digital goods online. Cultural institutions, such as the comic 2000AD (home to Judge Dredd) have also been getting in on the act of digital distribution via the hub clickwheel - where users can subscribe to get their comic fix. Of course subscription is nothing new, but the 'push' or 'cast' technologies we now have make this process easier and more seductive. Clickwheel offers lots of comics in one place, but I have to pay for each bit, a piecemeal approach that some have speculated won't work - especially when your 'shadow' competition on ThePirateBay is offering a one-stop-shop for free;
"No one wants to shop at one store for Sony BMG musicians, another one for Warner Bros musicians, another for EMI musicians, another one for Universal Music musicians and yet another for indie musicians. And, at the price point Sony BMG is talking about ($9 to $12/month) if you want subscriptions to all the fragmented stores, you end up pay $75 to $100/month for DRM-encrusted subscription plans. That's not going to work. Time to go back to the drawing board and not come up with ideas that were discarded five years ago."
Indeed it is rumoured that Apple, currently one of the top players in the digital-downloads world is considering an 'all-you-can-eat' model;
"Apple is in discussions with the big music companies about an 'all you can eat' model for buying music that would give customers free access to its entire iTunes music library in exchange for paying a premium for its iPod and iPhone devices. Finally, it looks like the industry (or at least Apple) is 'getting it'. The real question is not whether the big music companies will go for it, but rather, who will be the first one to get smart and agree to offer it?"
Because the rules of the game have changed and creative producers need to 'get it';
"But first, lets take a look at the physics that are shaping today’s media space....We’re moving from a world of limited distribution channels and therefore abundant attention (CBS was not scared of losing any of us as customers 20 years ago, I came home from school every day and watched Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island because it was THE ONLY THING ON), to a world of unlimited distribution and therefore attention scarcity (when Zoe watches TV it’s TiVo and she doesn’t even watch TV after school, she gets on the computer, uses Facebook, does her homework with the help of Wikipedia, IMs with friends, etc)."
Which brings us to the idea of 'added-value' - in a world where attention is short but content is not, what will people pay for? The former or the latter? Take the example of Guitar Hero 3 - a great game that builds on version 1 and 2 with more features and a wireless guitar
- but most importantly, via the network, the user can download extra tracks for a small free - result? A billion dollar franchise. On their own the music tracks could be got for free, but added to the value of the game, people will pay. Is it in the interests of bands to get popular to sell value-added tracks on Guitar Hero 4+? If so, why not give it away for free? This is not the only example, both Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have been giving music away and selling 'value-added' box sets for those who want it. Result? Radiohead made more money through 'In Rainbows' than they ever made from the label albums and NIN are doing really well selling $300 box-sets for uber-fans.
Finally a project of note with possibly the most interesting idea of all - bottom-up funding. In our book back in 2004 , we talked about the idea of how the band Dodgy had asked fans to pay in-advance for a new album after they were dropped by their label and the idea was a great success;
"In 2001 the UK Band 'Dodgy' raised enough money to finance an album through this very method. The group raised £15,000 ($25,000) through Internet based micro-payment systems (such as PayPal), combined with an appeal to their fan base. Fans were offered either a small share for £25 ($40), which also gave them a mention on the album sleeve, or a large share for £1000 ($1800) with a percentage of the profits from the sale of the album. Triumphantly, the band's website proclaimed "...we finally raised the entire recording budget to record their fourth and best album to date by encouraging fans, supporters and visitors to this marvellous site to 'invest' in the album." If this has worked for music, it seems logical that the same ideology could be applied to other artistic outlets including online film."
Well, it has - A Swarm of Angels is an open-source media project with lofty aims;
"A groundbreaking project to create a £1 million film and give it away to over 1 million people using the Internet and a global community of members.."
As one commentator noted ; "As a concept, 'swarming angels' is a brilliant idea to make creator-led media. The paradigm has been aching to be broken for years."
The future is bright...but what colour?
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