I’m pretty much a believer that record companies have no moral right (regardless of the law) to charge for music. Especially as I’ve been seeing more artists charge directly (or more often adding ‘value’ beyond the music alone to make a profit) and bypassing record companies altogether. So I was quite interested to see this article about a company called Topsin who have gone the ‘value added’ route. I’d advise you to read the whole article but here is the significant part for me:
In an era of shrinking revenues, Topsin’s success with bundling – offering an affordable digital album, but encouraging the purchase of more expensive packages that might include video, merchandise, other releases, concert access or an artist-specific subscription – should attract the attention of artists, mangers and labels struggling to monetize content. The average Topspin motivated transaction often exceeds $22 vs. 99 cents to $9.99 on iTunes. In one recent campaign, 84% of all purchases were above the basic level offered.
When Amanda Palmer who has been very vocal about hating her record company can make $19,000 off Twitter while earning no money off her solo album, that the system is beyond broken seems obvious.
Post a Comment