pampelmoose Dave Allen of Gang of Four’s Music and Media Blog

I’m back from Seattle. The MusicTech 07 conference was way more fun than I had anticipated. Lots of very thoughtful people were on the panels doing their best to come up with answers to the problem of how to embrace new technology, which at this moment in time within the music industry is extremely difficult. And the bottom line really, and it’s a hard pill to swallow for record label owners, is that music ought to be free. The thinking behind this [and it's an idea I fully embrace by the way] is that the music ‘business’, ie touring, merchandise, licensing etc is growing whilst the ‘recording’ industry is in massive decline; the shiny disc problem again. Bands simply must get their music into their fans hands and there should be no barrier to that process, it should be as simple as possible.
Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk, the record label and management group, has often been derided by those that want to have the status quo remain. He is a maverick yet his thinking and opinions on the record companies travails are crystal clear.

McBride - the recording industry is about this big.

McBride spoke for 90 minutes in an interview with Charles Cross the author. He had much to say about dealing as efficiently as possible directly with a bands fans. This meant reaching out to them at every level and giving them access to as much music as possible and if necessary, for free. Here’s what I heard him say:
In reference to the RIAA lawsuits and suing music fans who share files - “you cant litigate behaviour, the copyright laws must be changed by Congress.”
In reference to the labels battle with Napster - “they missed a huge opportunity to work with Napster. During the litigation Napster had put one billion dollars on the table for an ad sharing business with the labels and it was rejected. That was the beginning of the end for the record industry. I calculate they walked away leaving roughly 40 billion dollars on the table. That was a lost opportunity.”
On subscription services - “Add a small premium to everyone’s cable bill if they want to download music. The kids are going to do it anyway so we should monetize it.”
On free music -”Give away your music if necessary. At shows ask your fans how much they want to pay for your CDs, from zero to what they can afford. Even if they take a CD for free you have got your music into the hands of a fan.”
On iTunes and other paid download services - “A downloaded song should be .25 cents. At that price point it becomes more valuable to someone who is downloading via a P2P system as time and effort is not free. iTunes makes it quicker and easier. I’d rather have my artists sell 10 songs at .25 cents than one song at .99 cents.
And - “Remember that water is free but bottled it sells for an awful lot of money.”

Related posts: MusicTech 07, New Gang of Four album, The Future of Music