Music and science rate high in ‘toughest’ jobs
Last month I wrote about the Australian automotive market and the real marketing challenges in some segments. I suggested that readers might like to tell us about other marketing situations that are full of challenge, and I’m pleased to say that Anne Lawrence, of Ensis, has responded with a pretty powerful example in a business-to-business marketing environment. You can read all about it in her article in this issue.
But wait! There’s more!
I have written about the music industry in the past couple of years as the trials and tribulations caused by Napster, Kazaa and other peer-to-peer downloading sites have made legitimate marketing very difficult. Notwithstanding the success of legal download sites such as i-Tunes, illegal downloading still swamps them, with some industry analysts estimating there are 40 illegal downloads for every one that is paid for. OK, both Napster and Kazaa are being transformed into legal sites, but that’s a drop in the ocean.
So if you were a music marketing executive, what would be your next move? Keep fighting piracy? Work with the legal sites and try to sell tracks that way? Maybe, but a lot of people were taken aback when, on 29 August, Universal Music Group (UMG), the largest music marketer in the world with a more than 25% market share, abruptly announced it was going to make its whole catalogue available to download free through a website called SpiralFrog.
The aim would be to generate revenue through advertising, some of which would be paid to UMG and all its stakeholders in the music (artists, producers, writers, etc). The key market(s) targeted will be 14-34 year-olds.
Bonanza or bust?
Within hours, two divergent themes were sloshing around news websites.
First, why would the kids bother if they have to watch/listen to ads? Another reason the heavy downloaders might not be interested is the argument that they tend favour independent bands and artists on small labels.
But, second, hey, if you can deliver 14-34 year-old eyes and ears, you have a marketing bonanza, given that many people in these age groups are among the hardest to reach by conventional communication channels. So will it be a bonanza or a bust? As the details started to emerge the proposition became a little more complicated. Users would be required to register and re-register every month; there would digital rights management attached to each track and re-registration would be required to keep it current.
Then it emerged that tracks would have a finite life – six months. And a little later, the kicker, downloaders would have to sit through – listen to/watch – 90 seconds of advertising before each and every track was sent down the line. A spokesperson for UMG was quoted as saying that the downloaded tracks would not include any ads, would be the highest download quality and guaranteed free from spyware, adware and viruses.
A later report had it that “about half” the UMG catalogue would be available. By the time you read this, who knows what will be the situation? But succeed or fail, it’s a very interesting response to a tough marketing situation as the music industry searches for a new business model.
The early reports announced that the service would start for United States and Canada residents in December; at the time of writing, there was no announcement when it might extend to other countries. |
