Linkin Park's New Business Model?

According to techdirt, Linkin Park has created a huge media frenzy lately by announcing that they want out of their contract with Warner Music, and want to release songs on the Internet instead. While techdirt seems to think that it’s all a ploy, and the band is simply looking for some free publicity, what if it isn’t? I think it would be great if a group like Linkin Park were forward thinking enough to attempt this “new” business model of giving away the music for next to nothing and making money on related products and services.

In fact, in a different techdirt post, this business model is described perfectly:

We don’t need new laws. We don’t need to sue people. We don’t need compulsory licensing. We don’t need to change much of anything, really. All we need to do is recognize the natural progression of economics. The music, itself, since it’s a digital good has a marginal cost of zero, and your basic economics tells you that competitive pressure will eventually drive the price of that good to zero. That’s not a bad thing. As things get priced at zero they become inputs, rather than end products themselves — and that can often mean more. In the case of music, free music becomes a promotion for something else, whether it’s concerts, merchandise, or something new entirely.

That my friends is the future of the music business, as far as I am concerned. I think the concept of a “record label” is becoming extremely dated. Dell eliminated the middle man, and look at the success (and profit) they have had. Maybe it’s time for musicians to do the same. I’m a big Linkin Park fan, but I think I’m a bigger fan of music in general, and I think music has a much better future with business models like this. I hope Linkin Park realizes this as well, and that techdirt is wrong about it being a stunt.

Read: techdirt