I read the news today oh boy…
About a CEO who has a plan.
And though the news was rather sad…
I just had to laugh.
It’s not a totally new concept but it’s now making some small headlines that the CEO of Warner Music wants to get your ISP to add an á la carté fee to your cost of your internet connection. While I understand a struggling corporation attempting to come up with ways to save their bottom line this is a tad too much to take. Why? Here’s a viewpoint from a musician on the verge of making a national campaign…
First, this benefits only the companies who sign on for it. Meaning it would likely only get distributed to the Major Labels and maybe the Major Indie Labels. The non-signed artists and a vast landscape of smaller indie labels would likely never see a micro penny of that “fee”. Which instantly makes it unfair in terms of distribution of wealth.
Second, how would they police a system where it involves net users that hop from place to place via a laptop? Let’s say you agree to pay the fee. Now you’re out on a laptop traveling and you hear a song. A song that you absolutely love and wish to pay for. Now you’re on someone else’s net connection that isn’t paying the fee. Hmmm… Now what happens? What if it’s someone who doesn’t wish to pay the fee?
The reality is it’s a way for them to say ok you pay us X amount of dollars and you have free reign to take all the music you want. Well, this system already exists. It’s called a subscription music service. Rhapsody, napster, and others. They’re out there. Why haven’t they truly taken off? Usability. They are cumbersome from what I understand. I have friends who swear by it and love it. Me personally. I want to purchase my license once and enjoy it whenever and wherever I am. Precisely why I stick to purchasing CDs and songs via iTunes.
Do I think the price of a CD is too much? Actually no. When you figure out all the costs involved the price point of $16.99 is about the right amount. In fact in light of recent changes in the economy and transport costs, it’s becoming underpriced. Before you jump on me – have you ever actually produced a real CD from start to finish? Have you properly added in all the costs? It scares me to think that people believe it costs penny’s to reproduce a CD. That’s patently false. If you’re doing a typical package with a nice jewel case and reasonable booklet with a color print on the CD itself, or even a digipak, the cheapest you start getting on the reproduction of the CD itself is about $1.10, maybe if you print 100,000 at once you might get it down to about $1. Now, that’s strictly the cost of the CD – nothing else. Let’s not forget the costs of the recording itself. Then there’s the costs of advertising that product. Lots of people involved, they all get paid. Then there’s the distribution costs. The costs of transporting the discs to all those locations. The store has to pay their employees, and keep their lights on too. Not to mention the artist has to pay their bills too. Then there’s the costs to copyright your songs, the lawyers to protect you if you’re sued, etc… Yikes, enough already. Can you now understand why CDs aren’t overpriced?
I prefer sound quality higher than that of the CD. I’m fortunate in that I can actually listen to my music in it’s raw form. I understand the concept of portability. Eventually technology will get so good we can get the raw form of the music at it’s recorded rate in a portable fashion. We could probably have it now, just that some people would complain about yet another thing to purchase.
Now in the wake of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails I’d like to propose what I’d be interested in in terms of giving people music in a fashion that they desire. Digital Distribution is certainly a very viable option. What I think has been missed is how to do for the customer. iTunes so far has the slickest and easiest model to use. However, not all artists are allowed to be “Plus” artists. Meaning the ability to sell without DRM. I’m still awaiting my chance – hopefully it will be soon. However, I think there’s an even better way.
Here’s what I’m thinking of shifting to: Multiple formats for different price points. I’m going to stick with the AAC/MP3 format in terms of the lower rates. First I’m partial to 2 minute clips of my songs in order to give the listener a very good idea of my song without giving away the whole thing. I figure if you like the song in 2 minutes time, it’s worth paying for for the whole thing (you’d be surprised, I’ve had people get angry with me about that when they love a song – to which I say, c’mon buy it if you love it). Now, I’m willing to sell music without DRM if I’m the source, or say someone like iTunes, or Amazon or any legit service that pays out to the artists.
This is the structure I’m toying with when I’m the provider:
64k AAC/MP3 – would be $.65 a song or $6 for the whole CD.
128k AAC/MP3 – would be $.75 a song or $7 for the whole CD.
192k AAC/MP3 – would be $.85 a song or $8 for the whole CD.
256k AAC/MP3 – would be $1 a song or $9 for the whole CD.
Apple Lossless / FLAC – would be $1.15 or $10 for the whole CD.
AIF / WAV (16 bit) – would be $1.30 a song or $11 for the whole CD.
AIF / WAV (24 bit) – would be $1.45 a song or $12 for the whole CD.
I would still allow for the 2 minute clips to hear the song. However, now you’re given a really wide range of formats for a price that suits you. By the time you hit the 24bit better than CD quality files, you’re getting a pretty damn good price without the CD.
Things that still have to be taken into account… Cost of the hosting of all those files. Costs of the system to take payment. Cost of the bandwidth to deliver. There’s still the costs of the recording, and running the business etc. There’s also the issue of tagging the files with the purchasers info. Not DRM, just a way for you to know you’re the owner of said files.
I’m curious to know what you as a fan/listener would be willing to honestly think of a system like that? I think it’s much more realistic than the CEO of Warners plan. We have the ability to implement such a structure already. I’m not sure why someone hasn’t done it in a way that makes sense.
As for Steve Miller. I don’t condone stealing of his music. If you don’t have this song – where have you been? Go buy the CD or purchase the iTunes copy now! I’m sure you have heard many of his hits.