netaudio the future of music ?
matthias reinwarth info@tonAtom.net
....a journey in time - 1
future of music ?
what was the past? some people tend to idealize own experience... this is me:
* 1967 electronic music for more than 25 years 17 in 1984...
“then”: listening to music
with a stranger taste, how could you find the stuff you liked ? broadcast, TV ? usually not. recommendation: friends, like-minded people, the record store, magazines (dead tree) implicit recommendation through record labels by their style and quality
political, commercial, artistic e.g.: Atatak, ZTT, Mute, 4AD
and even weirder stuff?
live (sometimes) tape labels (if you knew some) ./.
we were victims of mass programming, “hit culture” and of major record labels
“then”: making music
rehearsal room probably live recording sessions „distribution“ to friends & family the “music business” as the gatekeeper
with the gate very, very closed
“then”: publishing music
...a journey in time - 2
200x
open access to a free*, global, digital network
cooperation without boundaries*
the ability and tools for being creative have been democratized on many level new means of creation and distribution of digital culture
lossless and without a physical product
change of economy on the net!
„Stell dir vor, es gibt weltweit dreihundert Menschen, die deinen Musik-Geschmack teilen. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit, ihnen jemals zu begegnen, ist durch das Internet extrem angestiegen.“ Moritz R
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/16/16014/1.html
“economy of wealth“ production and consumption in niches global communication within peer groups music (or culture in general) turns from product to service
„product“
A) products as goods (CD + booklet + marketing + merchandising + distribution + stores + ...) B) a product as a result (versioned, finalized) of an artistic process
defined scope with its own identity artwork, audio, ++ not: “work in progress” or “perpetual beta“
tonAtom
founded 2002 active decision against creating a conventional (hardware) record label
role models believing in the dynamics, the wealth and the international character of networked culture
distrust and lack of perspective towards „musicbiz“, from indie to major label, collecting societies
an alternative approach
legal creative independent „original art“ international
„Netaudio ist positiv, kreativ, aktiv und legal. Netaudio ist die unabhängige Distribution von Musikkultur im Internet und das schneller, interaktiver, internationaler und unmittelbarer, als das jemals zuvor denkbar war.“ mr: “Netzklang“
„moderne klangkunst”, 2004
products (v2) usually creative commons by-nc-cd free personal use, in between of free and permission culture ( !)
building blocks for netlabels
A) first: a netlabel is a net(!) label(!) B) on top of this it might be
a booking agency a local concert agency an editor a marketing agency a distributor of (physical) records a distributor of shirts and fashion ....
...a journey in time - 3
choice and multitude
different distribution paradigms exist in parallel and almost independently from each other
mass programming: hit radios + CDs niche music as vinyl or CD paid digital distribution through iTunes, Rhapsody, Finetunes, Beatport, Magnatune and independent companies: „The long tail“ illegal p2p-networks music in games, multimedia, advertising netaudio
music culture on the net
today: almost all interesting things in music culture happen on the net (at least: “also”) the world of music culture has grown bigger and larger on and through the net (volume, variety, styles, ... and inevitably rubbish) listeners interact by international, network-wide peer groups artists enjoy exchange with each other and the audience
music within web 2.0
both artists and audience become more active new platforms for publication and communication motivation:
personal identity/ies on the net, mostly defined through relationships and the association to groups awareness economy
“web2.0” music platforms (e.g.)
mySpace
self propaganda, 128kbps, marketing und 27.434 friends
last.FM & pandora
music recommendation und promotion
second life
“web 2.0” platforms (revisited)
mySpace (News Corporation....) last.fm (CBS...) pandora second life (some interesting investors)
netlabels vs. the web 2.0
integrate and deploy !
technologies (e.g. RSS) as tools blogs as means of communication music-blog as means of marketing social networking mechanisms for improved communication (artist<->netlabel<->audience) music sites (e.g. mySpace) as additional marketing viral infiltration of recommendation systems
more important: the next change ...
tapes and vinyls have vanished CDs have been “put away” for two years now now that the mp3 library has been tagged diligently... ...you might not need it any more „celestial jukebox“
“music like water“
no more xxx GB-iPods, but mobile devices broadband home + mobile networks (3G and WiFi) download today: „acquiring“ download tomorrow: „consuming“ open questions:
„Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity“ David Bowie
New York Times, June 2002, zit. nach Kusek, Leonhard: „The future of music“
business models mobile access to free culture and netaudio
interim summary: from “scarcity” to “awareness within an economy of wealth“
abundance: always more than you can consume netlabels as starting points and quality assurance trust in the brand “netlabel”: Stadt, Gruen, Autoplate, Kahvi, Observatory Online, Laridae... label styles as main aspects for designing a repertoire 1.0-style deliberately chosen within the 2.0-hype we need more and more versatile genres for netaudio netaudio – surely one future of music !