The opportunity hence is to enable music sharing and commerce to be easily conducted in these locations. Let locations be the new CD stores. Let the physical environment and mood be the context where music can be enjoyed. Add to that the ability for people in the same locations to be connected through music and a new value chain can be constructed.
Unfortunately, music industry is taking the wrong path. The NYtimes reports that labels and publishers are increasing the royalities that nightclubs have to pay for the rights to play music:
To pump music out to their dance floors, Australian clubs used to have to pay record companies and artists a nominal 7 Australian cents in royalties per guest, per night. Under a recent copyright settlement, that rate has risen to 50 cents per customer, and it is set to jump to 1.05 dollars, or 84 U.S. cents, in a few years.
This is rather sad. Instead of exploring new possibilities, labels have resorted to imposing old models on new economics. The end result will probably not be very pleasant.
- Music industry set to suck even more blood (inquisitr.com)
- Music Industry Sees Nightclubs as a New Source of Revenue (nytimes.com)
- U2 Manager: Free Is The Enemy Of Good; And It's Moral To Protect Old Business Models (techdirt.com)