The New Free
The biggest idea I came out of SxSW with this year was that free is dead. Over. Overdone. We killed it. Because so much is free online, we expect it; where’s the value in that? It seems to me that the folks in Austin weren’t quite on this one yet… even SxSWi keynote speakers Guy Kawasaki and Chris Anderson seemed slow to the punch (Guy’s big bright idea for Chris’s new book “Free,” out this July, was to give it away for free. HELLO? Been there. Done that. Have they NOT notice that the music industry has already beaten this model into the ground?)
Sure, giving stuff away for free is nice. People like it. And these days, you have to do it just to keep up with the Joneses. But keeping up doesn’t get you ahead. And obviously free doesn’t exactly pay the bills unless you’re Trent Reznor or Radiohead, i.e. established. So what about the little guy? Good question.
Things to think about:
1. What’s the effectiveness of your free? To lure in new fans? To solidify current fans?
2. What’s the strategy of your free? Is your free creative? Why do I want it over someone else’s?
3. What’s the bottom line of your free? To get me to pay for something else?
Free can’t be JUST free anymore. And how the hell can you beat free? So that’s my question:
What’s the new free?
Thinking that the answer is in fact the opposite of free. The complete opposite. Fucking expensive.
Take the new food for example (thanks Erik!). $5 Kashi anyone? $4 local, farm-raised, cage-free eggs? $8 Pom Wonderful? $5 rice milk? Are we (me included) out of our minds? Perhaps. But clearly, somehow those foodies did it. We’re willing to pay ridiculously high prices for incredible quality. What’s more is we often drive way out of our way to get it (for most of us, Whole Foods, etc. isn’t usually down the road). Why? We value life for one, fueling our bodies with the best we can to feel healthy, younger, whatever. But also it’s just plain delicious, so there’s definitely an aesthetic association. And for sure, it’s COOL. I love walking into Whole Foods with my eco-conscious shopping basket and looking at all the pretty colors and all the pretty people. I do. It’s a group I want to be long to. But the best part is getting home, unpacking everything, unwrapping and putting it away. I love touching it. I love how it looks in the refrigerator and on the shelves. It looks nice.
Hmmmmm…. what else makes you feel good, feeds the senses, makes you willing to make an effort to get it, makes you feel cool and the need for inclusion? YOUR FAVORITE BAND.
So what’s missing? Well, if it’s digital, you can’t TOUCH it. And that’s a bummer. There’s a lot of pleasure out of simply owning something, holding it. Is that the missing element? Making music TACTILE again?
I think so. And apparently Tim Easton does as well. Bless him.
xo
Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, KATE BRADLEY, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, Radiohead, Tim Easton, Trent Reznor —
4/13/09
Categories: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE • KATE BRADLEY • OUTLANDOS MUSIC
55 Responses to “The New Free”
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Anna,
You are exactly correct!
I am a performing musician, and over the years I came to the exact conclusion you have.
Musicians and audiophile enthusiasts here music very differently from typical listeners.
I think of this every time I read the ads for super quality recording gear in recording magazines.
Who are they kidding? Themselves. Recording engineers hear music differently, too. They are basically audiophiles.
[...] there, then, a new free? My feeling is that the new free may be the opposite of free. The complete opposite, a.k.a. [...]
I think bjorn said it best “is that “free” goods online are in effect infinitely abundant, and you can’t really make them non-free.”
The question is not should music be free. Music is free (kind of. I will explain below). The question is- If music is free, how can bands create a profitable business model?
“Music” has to be defined.
Music Mp3’s for download = free.
Online streaming music = free.
Why? Because music “files” are infinitely abundant. If you don’t want to pay for an mp3, just go to any file sharing platform and download it. Without limit in supply, there can be no value.
Music itself is not free. Music files are free.
Music itself, as an experience, as art, as a connection is priceless. This is where bands can make money, and create a profitable business model.
Free= everyone can hear your music, assuming they have an internet connection, without any barrier between “you” the musician and them “the fans”.
Sell= fans get a tactile product (limited edition high quailtiy product) which has real value. (ex. CDs, T-shirts, etc.)
Sell=live performance, as any music junkie knows a great live concert is priceless
Sell= License your music for movie, videogame, or commerical sondtracks.
This seems to me to be the current path for bands. It could all change tommorrow, we are all currently blind trying to figure it out.
Regardless of whether you like the music or not, it seems that Trent Reznor has a good hold on the new music business model
here’s a short video http://futuremusic.tumblr.com/search/nin
I believe I’m doing both: free and expensive.
1. Offering “advise” for free, inside my mailing list, inside my social network.
2. Selling an exclusive “advise” club for a high price that only a few can afford or doing live workshops at an even higher price.
It works for me.
The only people ever getting free cds should be radio stations and anyone in the media who may write or review the album, also agents, potential managers and anyone else who you feel may benefit your music career. As far as your cheapskate so-called ‘fans’ and ‘friends,’ make the bastards pay. When you give your music away you are stating by this action that you do not believe it to be worth anything. Does a carpenter build a house and give it away? Then why does anyone create a Cd and give it away? Was there not time and money and blood and sweat invested in this product just the same as the building of the house? Music has been cheapened and it’s value trashed by desperate musicians yearning to be discovered and heard. When you give your music away to anyone other than industry people who may help to further your career, you are working for free. And anyone else you just hand your Cd to will never really appreciate it. If they didn’t ask for it or bother to invest in you as an artist they will just look at it as a worthless piece of plastic, which based on your lack of commerce skills it has become.