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How much would you pay for music?
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| DigiNut |
Ok, first off, this is NOT a thread about the evil corporate media empire, so let's try to keep it clean folks. This is just something I've been curious about recently.
Statistics have generally shown that at least until recently, the average person would pay for 6 CDs a year or $90 worth, which amounts to $7.50 a month. Some of us also pay for subscription access to live sets, or priority downloads on soulseek, etc. I believe that most people are willing to pay a certain amount of money for music, but knowing the actual distribution cost (which is nearly zero), most people also expect a lot more bang for their buck.
I also believe that sites like iTunes and beatport have missed the point entirely by charging a certain price per track - think about how much sense it makes to sell an iPod with 40 GB of storage, while simultaneously charging $7500 for that much content (assuming $0.99 per 4 minute, 192 kbps track - I realize that electronic music is longer and that the price is no longer 99 cents).
Now let's hypothetically say that there was a licensed online service, where you could legally download an unlimited amount of music for a certain price. And let's say that there were no restrictions on this music - you could burn it to CDs, share it with other users, and do anything else you want with it. What would you be willing to pay (if anything) per month to use that kind of a service?
This is just out of curiosity for now, I'm not actually planning anything. :p |
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| rabbitjoker |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
Now let's hypothetically say that there was a licensed online service, where you could legally download an unlimited amount of music for a certain price. |
There is nothing hypothetical about such a service.
It already exists (to US consumers). Pay a monthly fee for open access to entire label libraries.
All music labels are moving to this model - and soon it will be extended to other media (movies, syndicated television, etc).
Thus the end of the 500 channel universe. Enter the era of a single channel of content - YOUR channel, with YOUR customized, licensed content, 24/7. |
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by rabbitjoker
There is nothing hypothetical about such a service.
It already exists (to US consumers). Pay a monthly fee for open access to entire label libraries. |
I've never heard of this - what does it cost? Is it open to anyone? And why don't we have it here?
I do agree that that's basically the future of distribution, though... that's why I was asking. |
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| rabbitjoker |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
I've never heard of this - what does it cost? Is it open to anyone? And why don't we have it here? |
Depending on the provider - it costs between $5 and $10 per month - and is open to anybody. SOCAN is the reason we don't have it in Canada. |
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by rabbitjoker
SOCAN is the reason we don't have it in Canada. |
Bah, those self-righteous pigs... "we do what's right for music."
If the labels themselves wanted to set up this service in Canada, though, could SOCAN really stop them? Since the labels own the intellectual property to begin with... |
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| rabbitjoker |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
If the labels themselves wanted to set up this service in Canada, though, could SOCAN really stop them? Since the labels own the intellectual property to begin with... |
I'm not certain of the mechanics. The labels manage the publishing rights, SOCAN manages performance rights - I suspect the artists don't make as much via a subscription model (whereas labels monetize more of their library via subscription) which is probably why they are throwing up roadblocks. |
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| DigiNut |
Is there anywhere I can read up on these services? I'm curious as to how they manage the downloads, how they compensate the artists, etc... most importantly I'm curious why you're the only person I've spoken to so far who actually knows they exist!
The question still stands though, I'm curious what people think. |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by rabbitjoker
I'm not certain of the mechanics. The labels manage the publishing rights, SOCAN manages performance rights - I suspect the artists don't make as much via a subscription model (whereas labels monetize more of their library via subscription) which is probably why they are throwing up roadblocks. |
I wouldn't be surprised if it more to do with Canadian content than actual royalty percentages... |
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| rabbitjoker |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
you're the only person I've spoken to so far who actually knows |
Come on now. Is that really such a mystery? ;) |
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| dEsidEL |
i would not pay per track .. i'd still buy the CD if i liked it enuff
what happens when there are no more CDs in circulation ? well i'll wait till then to see what happens
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by rabbitjoker
Come on now. Is that really such a mystery? ;) |
I can't help noticing that you didn't answer the question, haha... is there some kind of secrecy at work here?
Interesting results so far though - the "free" and the $10 votes are even. Of course it's a pretty small sample size - hopefully the tally grows a bit over the next few days.
Jeff: I wonder how significantly the "Canadian Content" laws work into this. That may well be the side that SOCAN is playing toward, i.e. "sure, you can do business here, but you have to make sure that 80% of what's available on your server is Canadian Content!" (which we all know is impossible).
| quote: | Originally posted by dEsidEL
i would not pay per track .. i'd still buy the CD if i liked it enuff
what happens when there are no more CDs in circulation ? well i'll wait till then to see what happens
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I wasn't suggesting that they stop making CDs or other physical media - I know that some people like the idea of owning the thing, as well as the artwork, liner notes, etc... CDs are "collector's items" in a sense and will always have *some* market.
I guess the reason I didn't include that option in the poll is that it's not mutually exclusive of the others - people could use the service and still buy CDs, or vinyls if we're talking about DJs. |
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| Jayx1 |
99 cents per song is dead cheap.
Its about the same or even less than what youd pay for the actual album in a store except here you get to actually choose which tracks u want. The sad part about online stores is that whereas most people would buy the album and discover songs on it that would never make it to the radio, now people only go for the forcefed junk that they know and usually bypass the unknown music.
I have no problem with paying 99 cents per song. |
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