Copyright Law

Interesting material about alternative business models for musicians to market to their fans

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

Interesting discussion, complete with link to 15 minute video, by Mike Masnick of TechDirt, posted by MIDEM, about alternative business models, with focus on Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails:

MidemNet video: Nine Inch Nails case study, by Mike Masnick

Here, in exclusive video, is the presentation given to MidemNet January 17, where Techdirt/Studio 64's Mike Masnick explains how Nine Inch Nails' multi-platform, ultra-creative launch campaign was a prime example of "Serving your Fans". NIN frontman Trent Reznor notably left extracts of his new album for people to discover in concert venues; parts of an ARG (alternate reality game) puzzle fans had to work out. As Masnick puts it:

Embedded above is the 15 minute (trust me, it goes by quickly) presentation I did at MidemNet on January 17th in Cannes, France. It garnered an interesting reaction and a whole series of fascinating discussions over email, in person and over the phone since I presented it, and while I don't want to repeat what's in the video, I did want to discuss a few points raised by the presentation. The core of the presentation is the following simple "formula" that is the basis for making money in the music business (and, I'd argue, many other businesses) in the digital era:

Connect With Fans (CwF) + Reason To Buy (RtB) = The Business Model ($$$$)

There are many artists -- famous and not so famous -- who have been making use (on purpose, or not) of this formula to create successful strategies for building up a stronger fan base, creating wonderful new works of art, distributing them out to the community and getting paid for it at the same time. What made Reznor so interesting as a case study was the fact that he's done it so many times in so many different ways that he, by himself, represents a great example of how you can approach this simple formula in an infinite variety of creative ways.

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Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on February 11, 2009 (boomark / email).