Maybe we add our finished song in a DRM (Digital Rights Management) format to our label’s syndication feed of what’s new — the pay-subscription service we run to which only college radio stations can subscribe. Why do they subscribe and why do we need a “label?”? Maybe “tastemaker” weblogs or other types of sites will appear. Maybe a label is simply somebody who recommends songs and forms a reputation or even “a brand”? for their services. Really, the distribution and marketing is wide open. On “Grey Tuesday” it was a volunteer effort; not everyone is going to want to host files and increase their bandwidth bills for the benefit of “the music.”? Will labels pay for weblog distribution? Can Google Ads serve as effective advertising for new music, or will something else take their place? iTunes, while a pleasure to use, is very difficult to browse. Perhaps Apple could be convinced to open their framework to allow something beyond iTunes links and operate more on the Amazon referral and API model. The direction this will take is completely up in the air. [halfass]
Thanks to A VC for the link…