Join us!
Partners
Music and the Next Web: Soundcloud stands out
On the first day of the Next Web conference in Amsterdam, one of the main topics was how the Internet is changing how music is made, distributed and sold. The trends on this market are also relevant for anyone who is producing a content product which can be distributed in digital form (a blog, software, video).
The most interesting talk at the Music and Bits part of the event was from Alex Llung of Soundcloud. Soundcloud is Flickr for music – it allows artists, labels and DJs to collaborate and share music. Soundcloud just secured a VC investment of 2.5 million EU and has 100K industry users. I spoke to some musicians and developers at the event who were equally enthusiastic about the service.
Alex spoke about how there is too much emphasis in Internet business models on what should be free Vs what should be paid. This is probably the wrong question to ask. Just because digital distribution reduces the cost of reproduction and distribution to almost zero does not mean that pricing should fall to zero. Cost of production is not equivalent to value. Alex also talked about how the most industries (not just the music industry) have traditionally operated on a version of economics which depends on selling a unit whether that unit is a CD of software, a book or a music track. This is no longer valid in the case of digital content. In fact, context (the user experience, social context, relevance, etc.) is the new content.
One very important point when it comes to any Internet business, including digital music, is that distribution is unlimited while attention is scarce.Attention is the new currency for the Internet entrepreneur.
The other trend to emerge from the event was the rise of the iPhone and how it is being used in unexpected ways whether that is to control a home media system (Sonos) or make music based on the local environment (RJDJ).
comments
Leave a Reply
- br/>
Extras
-
