WildBlueSkies - Trends and strategies in Digital Media

Looks like the music industry too is experimenting with the ad supported model - give it away for free online, and enlist advertisers to cover costs, if the company Rcrd Lbl (pronounced: Record Label) is any indication of a trend.
A joint venture of Downtown Records, the independent label behind Gnarls Barkley and others, and Peter Rojas, a journalist and entrepreneur who founded the respected technology blogs Gizmodo and Engadget, Rcrd Lbl is a hybrid record label and blog; its releases are to be posted on the company’s Web site for downloading, free and unrestricted by digital-rights management software that limits copying.
Album sales have fallen 14% this year compared with last year, it is clear that people no longer want to pay for music. For instance, Radiohead had recently offered its new album “In Rainbows” to the public for download, letting consumers decide what they would want to pay - data collected by comScore indicated that around 60% of the people who downloaded the album opted to pay nothing, which is disputed by Radiohead.
Given the tussle regarding privacy with the music companies, this might just be the solution, also considering that most larger artists are finding that most of their revenues are coming, not from records sales but from touring and mechandise sales, corporate sponsorships, etc. Thus a free ad supported version, and a paid for ad free version might be the way for the music industry as well.
The company has signed up three sponsors so far: Richard Branson’s Virgin America Inc. airline, Nikon Corp., and PPR SA’s Puma AG sneaker unit. The site will also include short articles, social-networking features and Internet radio stations.
Apart from bands which Rcrd Lbl has a tie-up with, other established independent labels, plan to participate via their own sites, which will include free downloads and advertising and would be linked to Rcrd Lbl.
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