Future thought and current models in the music industry are discussed with a blend of humor and serious tones. On the panel:
Terry McBride, Nettwerk Music Group
Bob Kohn, RoyaltyShare
Kristin Thompson, Future of Music Coallition
Robb McDaniels, InGrooves
Antohny Randall, TourPro
Heather Rafter (Moderator) RaftreMarsh USA
McBride: “We’re going to see a shift to smartphone/iPhone application for all your music consumption needs. A move from owning to accessing. The tethered experience will go away. No right management. Very much like your own personal radio. It’s going to happen. It is happening. Nothing can stop it.”
The 10-year music recession is coming to an end.
We see a decline in paid-for music content and at the sametime, an increase in social streaming—mostly out of Europe, a leader in this area.
With cloud computing, the metadata behind the music will make music easy to use within the application. Going beyond the music genere because digitally, the world is flat. When something’s released it doesn’t matter where—it is everywhere.
Randall: Integration of marketing and content. Do we give content for free? What’s the context within which content resides? Touring is about staying on the road—not off road. Maybe records will go away but concerts will always stay: Live doesn’t go away. Artists have to accept that to be a good touring band, they must stay on the road. “I’m not seeing a big change in touring in the coming 5-10 years. The question is how touring integrates content.”
I think touring will include content give-away after concerts, customized video, live show, ways to enable fans to create their own videos from the concerts. If we put the brand in front of the music, the value of music is under threat. I see smaller venues being developed with the likes of LiveNation and the recreation of touring bands.
McBride: Albums were created initially as singles by accountants so that production companies can charge more for two songs. Today, artists can just put out tracks or full records. A song is not a copyright—it is an emotion. When fans create those, it’s the fans’ emotions that connect to the artist’s emotion. “No need to wait for 8-12 emotions before getting an album out.”
Kohn: People will always pay for service. You can make it look for free as part of Social Network.
Market fundamentals haven’t changed: Bandwidth, portability, ease-of-use. It’s ridiculous that you have to go to iTunes to manipulate the playlist on your iPhone or iPod.
Thompson: Musicians now have better access to audiences, tools, platforms…it doesn't mean the work has gotten any easier—it is still time consuming and you still have to go out there and do the work, but some of the bottlenecks have started to disappear.
McDaniels: “We can generate thousands of impressions for our clients without spending a single dollar. It’s about relationships.” Much greater access.
McBride: (Speaking of streaming vs. self-hosting/storage) Storage on Smartphone is limited. Wanting to own music is ‘old generation.’ Streaming is going to work because the new applications will make old files on your hardrive incompatible with what is working. Just like you don’t want to buy a tape-cassette again. Music is about sharing, not owning.
Kohn: It’s almost always more efficient to download the file to you. The question is how long you’re going to save the file. There have been legal issues over what happens when the streaming period has expired.
Concluding Thoughts
Randall: Integration of the artist brand and music, package everything from online to touring.
McDaniels: Automation is the key on the distribution side of things. Focus on customized strategic marketing for artists. Be patient.
Thompson: Recognize that policy is also an important part of the conversation.
Kohn: If copyrights is dead then I shouldn’t be writing a new edition.
McBride: Look at streaming as a graduated download.
Rafter: Technology really posing new opportunities that are positive. “Death can be positive”
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