Musicology

Very interesting TED talk on the societal rise of collaborative consumption from Rachel Botsman.

I can’t help but draw parallels between the themes raised, the changing ways we consume music and what this means for the music industry model.

Mark Meharry founder of Music Glue - a direct to consumer sales service to help venues, promoters and artists access their fan base, addresses the change in consumer behaviour from ownership of a physical product to accessing music on demand. With great foreboding he questions: is there a role for the record label in the modern music industry?  Meharry proposes that the blogosphere is the most effective channel to market for artists looking for exposure compared to the traditional route of record labels spending excessively on marketing budgets. He also comments on the changing role of artist management. Managers today are becoming more dominant and brokering cost effective deals based on their understanding of where the target audience is.

To counter the changes, Music Glue has embraced the concept of collaborative consumption and seeks to generate revenue by facilitating promoters, venue owners and managers to find their fans and own this relationship. Thereafter, Music Glue takes a cut of merchandise, ticket sales and brand endorsement relationships. See full interview here

EMI has taken a bashing this year with the high profile coverage of Terra Firma versus Citigroup case. Undoubtedly changes are afoot. It will be interesting to see how 2011 unfolds in the quest to determine where the value of music really lies and who can monetise it most effectively.