Radiohead shows us the music industry of the future

By Mack D. Male · October 1, 2007 at 11:04pm

radiohead

What if you could set the price for an album you wanted to purchase? Wouldn’t it be great to have the ability to spend $5 to check out a new band, and $25 for a band you absolutely love? It might happen sooner than you think, with Radiohead leading the charge:

As expected, Radiohead has gone an unusual route for distribution of its seventh studio album, “In Rainbows.” The set will be available for digital download from the band’s Web site beginning Oct. 10, but with a twist — fans can name their own price for the purchase. “It’s up to you,” reads a disclaimer on the checkout screen.

Make no mistake, this is a big deal. Radiohead is obviously a very successful band with a huge fan base which allows them to experiment like this, but dammit someone has to. It might as well be Radiohead. I’ve written about making the music free before, and I’m glad to now see some action.

Techdirt notes that there is more to the story, in that Radiohead is also offering a “discbox” for $80 USD that contains the album on CD and vinyl, along with an additional CD with seven tracks, plus photos, artwork, and lyrics.

In this case, Radiohead isn’t really selling the “music.” After all, you can get that for free. They’re selling the full collection of stuff that comes with the music. Funny how it’s the musicians, and not the record labels, who seem to realize that adding value and getting people to pay for it is a business model that beats suing fans.

This is really cool. Music fans everywhere should be extremely happy about this giant leap forward! There’s more great stuff on the story at Boing Boing.

Read: Billboard

10 Reasons For Simultaneous Movie Releases

By Mack D. Male · May 14, 2007 at 6:40pm

In my humble opinion, the way movies are released today sucks. First they hit the theatres, then DVDs, then video-on-demand services, and finally television. The movie studios really like these different release windows for some reason. Why not release movies to all of these distribution channels at once? It makes a lot of sense to me. The hottest item during the Xmas shopping season in 2006 was probably HDTVs, and I suspect it will remain a big seller this year and next. Watching new releases like Spider-Man 3 in the comfort of my own home sounds very appealing.

The idea is finally being explored:

Comcast is trying to make the “simultaneous release” dream happen, but with prices being proposed in the $30-50 range per screening, the dream looks more like a Hollywood acid trip.

Yeah, that price simply isn’t going to fly. The article includes a bunch of really great analysis, so check it out.

Here are ten reasons why I think the “simultaneous release” dream needs to happen (in no particular order):

Drinks and snacks at the theatre are horribly overpriced – talk about price gouging. Not to mention the cost of gas to get from your house to the theatre! I’d rather eat the food I already have in the house, thanks.
There aren’t any crying kids, cell phones, or other distractions in my house. Oh and my floors aren’t sticky either.
I don’t like being forced to sit through fifteen minutes of commercials before the movie previews start. It makes seeing a 90 minute movie a two hour experience (and that’s assuming you don’t line up to get good seats).
Many people have invested thousands of dollars into a comfortable home theatre system – simultaneous releases let them make the most of it.
Hollywood would make more money. Increased sales and reduced marketing expenses.
Pause! You should control the viewing experience, not the theatre. Want to pause for a few minutes? Go for it.
We’ll get better quality movies. Instead of making only movies that are likely to do well at the box office, Hollywood would be free to make all kinds of movies with each one being widely accessible.
Theatre owners would be forced to revisit their business. Why do we go to the theatre? I think “to see a movie” is a secondary reason. The primary reason is to socialize. Perhaps theatres will come up with a better overall experience when their backs are against the wall.
Independent and other small movie studios would play on the same field as the big boys. Remember all the trouble Mel Gibson had to go through to get The Passion of the Christ released in theatres? It wouldn’t have been such an issue in a world with simultaneous releases.
Control over the volume. Control over the temperature. No parking necessary. You can lay down if you want. Etc.

Anything else? I think it’s only a matter of time until the simultaneous release becomes the norm.

Movie Piracy? Blame Canada!

By Mack D. Male · May 8, 2007 at 11:44pm

Looks like the “our business model sucks so let’s insult our customers” mantra has made it to the desks of Warner Bros. executives. If you’ve never been to an advance movie screening, too bad, because they are now banned for Warner Bros. movies in Canada:

Frustrated with unauthorized camcording of its new releases in Canadian cinemas, the studio said it will immediately halt all “promotional and word-of-mouth screenings” of upcoming releases.

“We regret having to cancel our screenings in Canada, but our studio must take steps to protect not only our branded assets but our commitment to our filmmakers and to our distributors,” Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said.

I can honestly say that were I to download a movie that was recorded using a camcorder in a theatre, I would immediately delete it. Not because I am sleeping with movie studio executives, but because a movie recorded using a camcorder just can’t look very good. Any serious pirate will have the time and bandwidth to go for quality!

When will these idiots learn? Camcorders in Canada are not the source of piracy. I doubt the practice has any measurable effect on the movie industry at all. Mathew Ingram points out a number of flaws with the argument being made, and Engadget gets a dig in too, noting the ban affects upcoming movies like…

…the upcoming Ocean’s Thirteen and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which’ll surely not be pirated now.

Surely not indeed! Come back next week to read about Warner Bros. suing toddlers and their grandparents!

Read: Reuters

Get ready for Spider-Man 4, 5, and 6

By Mack D. Male · May 6, 2007 at 1:32pm

I went to see Spider-Man 3 last night, and I enjoyed it. I think the critics were unnecessarily harsh (though not harsh enough to make it rotten). It’s like they all met in the back room and decided to call the movie “a disappointment.” With a few minor exceptions, I thought Spider-Man 3 was even better than the second movie.

There is a particular villain who really should have its own movie, so I wouldn’t be sad to see them make another installment in the Spider-Man series. If you believe the chief executive of Sony Pictures though, they’ll be making more than just another one:

Sony Pictures chief executive Michael Lynton told the BBC: “Everybody has every intention of making a fourth, a fifth and a sixth and on and on.”

There would be “as many as we can make good stories for”, he pledged.

That is kind of exciting to hear, but you have wonder if fans will get tired of Spider-Man movies at some point. Or more importantly, if the actors will get tired of the movies!

He probably said that because Spider-Man 3 has broken both the opening day and opening weekend North American box office records, bringing in $148 million (do they not count Sunday as part of the opening weekend, or what?). It’ll be interesting to see if it can hang on to that record with Shrek 3 and Pirates 3 coming out later this month.

Don’t listen to the critics, Spider-Man 3 is definitely worth going to see.

Read: BBC

Stop the madness – abolish DRM!

By Mack D. Male · May 2, 2007 at 3:39pm

Has DRM (digital rights management) ever accomplished anything positive? I find it really hard to believe that DRM has increased sales of music, movies, or any other protected content. In fact, I’d bet it has had the exact opposite effect. Just mentioning the acronym brings nothing but negative thoughts to mind.

I think it’s only a matter of time until DRM is gone. Steve Jobs doesn’t want DRM. EMI is willing to forget about DRM. And yesterday, thousands of online citizens proclaimed in a unified voice that they do not want DRM either. The writing is on the wall. The only question now is when DRM will disappear.

I can’t say it any better than Cory Doctorow:

AACS took years to develop, and it has been broken in weeks. The developers spent billions, the hackers spent pennies.

Instead of spending billions on technologies that attack paying customers, the studios should be confronting that reality and figuring out how to make a living in a world where copying will get easier and easier. They’re like blacksmiths meeting to figure out how to protect the horseshoe racket by sabotaging railroads.

The railroad is coming. The tracks have been laid right through the studio gates. It’s time to get out of the horseshoe business.

In the past, movie studios and record labels had to worry about content and distribution, but no longer. It’s clear now that distribution doesn’t need a helping hand. The sooner the studios and labels figure that out and stop wasting money on it, the better it’ll be for all of us.

Read: BoingBoing

Make the music free and sell the show

By Mack D. Male · January 29, 2007 at 12:14pm

Chris Anderson’s post today at The Long Tail is about the music industry and provides a really good analysis of what should be happening with music. Essentially, bands should give the music away for free and make their money on live shows. He explains:

Music as a digital product enjoys near-zero costs of production and distribution–classic abundance economics. When costs are near zero, you might as well make the price zero, too, something thousands of bands have figured out.

He points out that the average price for a ticket increased 8% last year, reflecting demand. Indeed the fastest growing part of the music industry is live performances, up 16% in 2006 in North America.

And don’t think that live shows are not profitable. They are extremely profitable for the artists, just not for the record labels. Chris includes a list of the top ten grossing touring bands of 2006 – and their numbers total a truly astounding $970.3 million.

I say – goodbye record labels, hello free music and awesome not-free shows!

Read: The Long Tail

Coming Zune from Microsoft

By Mack D. Male · July 21, 2006 at 4:02pm

Turns out the rumor is true! Microsoft is working on a new project to take on Apple and the iPod called Zune. Information is flying fast and furious around the web, but Engadget has come to the rescue with a pretty good status check of what is known thus far. They also posted a quote from Microsoft’s GM of Marketing, Chris Stephenson:

“Today we confirmed a new music and entertainment project called Zune. Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year. We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together.”

From the CNET News.com article on Zune, I found the teaser website which is pretty unimpressive, though it does give you the ability to sign up for news and updates.

As has been noted elsewhere, this marks a significant change in Microsoft’s media and entertainment strategy, which thus far has relied upon partners to build and sell devices. I don’t think it will be quite the problem that many believe though – Microsoft competes with partners all the time, in a wide range of different industries. In fact I hope Zune turns out to be great, so Microsoft’s partners can follow their lead and improve their own players.

With keyboards, mice, webcams, the Xbox 360, and probably other stuff I don’t know about, Microsoft’s hardware business is already somewhat substantial. Add media players to the mix, the rumored portable gaming device, and maybe Microsoft sees a future in hardware? I wonder how long it will be until they manufacture their own Media Center PC.

In any case, bring on the Zune!

Read: Engadget

Upcoming Movies I Want To See

By Mack D. Male · April 27, 2006 at 1:15pm

There’s a long list of movies coming out over the next few months as the summer blockbuster season gets underway in May. Here’s a list of the movies opening up in the next month that I want to see, complete with links to the relevant pages at IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes so you can check out reviews and such (and I can refer back to them later):

United 93 – IMDB, RT
I think enough time has passed since 9/11 that we need a movie like this. It’s all part of the healing process.
Stick It – IMDB, RT
If this movie is anything like Bring It On, I’ll happily call this movie my guilty pleasure of the summer.
Akeelah and the Bee – IMDB, RT
It’s produced by Starbucks, how could I not at least check it out?! And it has Morpheus
Mission: Impossible III – IMDB, RT
Tom Cruise may be a nutjob, but he usually doesn’t disappoint in these movies.
The Da Vinci Code – IMDB, RT
Who isn’t going to see this movie? Except for Sharon, because she’s weird.
Over the Hedge – IMDB, RT
Looks like a funny animation film to me!
X-Men: The Last Stand – IMDB, RT
Ah part three! So far I have really enjoyed the X-Men movies.

And further out, I am really looking forward to Superman Returns (IMDB, RT), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (IMDB, RT), Cars (IMDB, RT), and Casino Royale (IMDB, RT).

Who knows how I am going to afford all of these movies, but that’s the list!