Comments on: Is Digital Music The Next Eurozone Crisis Waiting To Happen? http://paidcontent.org/2011/11/29/419-is-digital-music-the-next-eurozone-crisis-waiting-to-happen/ The economics of digital content Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:55:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Jesse Kanner http://paidcontent.org/2011/11/29/419-is-digital-music-the-next-eurozone-crisis-waiting-to-happen/#comment-86374 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:09:51 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/11/29/419-is-digital-music-the-next-eurozone-crisis-waiting-to-happen/#comment-86374 But don’t artists benefit equally from having their works sold across many, small outlets as they do from fewer, larger ones? I can see how this situation is perilous for music startups – but what’s the impact on the artists’ bottom line?

]]> By: famebook http://paidcontent.org/2011/11/29/419-is-digital-music-the-next-eurozone-crisis-waiting-to-happen/#comment-86373 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:26:25 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/11/29/419-is-digital-music-the-next-eurozone-crisis-waiting-to-happen/#comment-86373 To be fair, one of the issues is that in the US they prefer to use the word ‘opportunity’ instead of ‘crisis’ and that’s partly why Europe finds itself where it is today. Europe has so many advantages it can ring fence and trade, especially in music but it will never have the same unified single mass market to underpin a digital music strategy and it is pointless trying to compete with that. What Europe has is that it is cool. Music discovery is based on being cool and music consumers want cool. (Especially American ones) Many of the world’s greatest creatives are European. The guy that makes Apple cool is a Brit and even in Hollywood you’ll usually find a European at the source of style or originality in a movie. Traditionally the industry could amplify that sense of cool by limiting supply and tabloid fueled ‘discovery’ but we all know that is a truly broken mechanism. The X-Factor has added a Y at the end and is no longer cool and certainly doesn’t represent the scope of European talent. (IMHO) But European artists are still amongst the coolest in the world.

Personally I liken this to the High Street battle and whilst I love being able to grab a burger, coke or coffee and know it will be reliable, it doesn’t inspire me. So why didn’t we invest in supporting local restaurants and retaining individuality? The Americans would. Similarly; Apple, Spotify, Google, Facebook et al are merely platforms and whilst Sir Martin Sorrell recently commented they were media companies masquerading as technology companies which I’d tend to agree with to an extent; the moment they really start to try and influence demand from the top, their credibility will nosedive. Likewise, as the proponents of social sharing, how can they possibly be seen to favor US artists and stay true to that global promise (which by the way includes a market share of 70% excluding China on recent examples) and sustain their business models? They can’t.

I think you are right and there are some big casualties to come, but the overidingly obvious thing to me is the need to innovate in discovery. What are the opportunities in promoting European talent on a global stage? I think they are bountiful and am close to some very exciting investors in that space. And you know what, I think the Americans are probably mystified why we spend so much time talking about things instead of just doing them. We’ve relied too much on tabloid press and plugger/ radio & TV mix to steer demand and been too greedy in the middle men department. It won’t be the likes of Apple to blame for our demise, it will be our lack of ability to innovate globally and carrying too much weight between content creation and delivery. To the artists I would say, for the first time the world is truly your oyster. If your label can’t innovate beyond local radio or suggesting you queue up for X-Factor, then you may make more money creating your own channel and using that awesome creativity to fuel your own discovery. To the music biz innovators, go back to being original. That’s what you have always done best. And lastly to my many great American friends, I don’t think people mind you owning the platforms, but if you start to use them to influence the diet it may prove commercially counter productive. As Yahoo and AoL have perhaps started to demonstrate…

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