7 întrebări pentru viitorul muzicii online în 2017

Am dat de un articol pe Linkedin pe care vreau să-l salvez aici: Concluzii după Future Music 2016.

Deși conferința a fost acum câteva luni, concluziile și întrebările sunt relevante pentru 2017 și probabil și pentru următorii ani.

Industria mondială de muzică este în acest moment dependentă de marii jucători din mediul online, care aproape fără excepție sunt companii de tehnologie și telecom. Adică nu sunt companii dedicate muzicii… Se discută din ce în ce mai des despre dependența nocivă a caselor de discuri [și implicit a artiștilor și compozitorilor] de Google – din cauza pseudo-monopolului YouTube, Apple – din cauza iTunes și Apple Music, Spotify – din cauza contractelor dure impuse de companie.

Aceste teme de discuție sunt dedicate în special profesioniștilor din industria muzicală, dar pot fi interesate pentru toți cei care consumă muzică online.

Iată întrebările ridicate de Hessel van Oorschot – CEO site-ului/comunității de artiști Tribe of Noise:

1. Streaming – Spotify mai are vreo șansă la titlu?

Spotify needs an IPO, Apple Music will dominate if Apple thinks it makes sense to dominate. In the upcoming 12 months we will continue to see a market shakeout, meaning many more consumer-focused streaming music initiatives will die (major labels need to clean up their bookkeeping).

2. Concerte și turnee – Când se va face ordine în piața aftermarket?

The secondary ticket market is not illegal in most parts of the world but still raises big concerns. The market starts to become overcrowded. What will Amazon Tickets do in a world dominated by Live Nation / TicketFly? Who will go after the tens of thousands of small venues when the big venues are all signed?

3. Tehnologie – Blockchain-ul pare salvarea, dar când va veni să ne salveze?

Hallelujah! Blockchain will save us all. Come on, stop the BS! Anyone in IT knows the phrase Garbage in, Garbage out! Well that’s exactly what we need to fix first. Worldwide musicians, labels, publishers and collecting societies are using good and corrupt data all in their own, closed databases. So whatever tech we use, block chain or not, the initial data to create a smart digital and shareable contract should include all the correct information about the rights- and shareholders verified by a trusted third party… hmmm, who goes first ;-)

4. Indie – Cei mici sunt prea mici?

Sorry to find out but they are no longer capable of doing it on their own. Sure we have a few examples on Kickstarter, Youtubers making a fortune, Bandcamp members happy with their sales, Adele is kinda independent but the majority is heavily dependent. Independents are invited to use “aggregators” like Tunecore or CD Baby publishing, but unfortunately don’t read the small print of these hefty online contracts and end up in a “vendor lock-in” situation, very much alone in the dark. This one is really close to my heart so together with my team we will keep contributing: let’s fix this one together. Start with human readable contracts, under promise, over deliver.

5. Realitatea Virtuală – De ce nu profită artiștii?

Virtual Reality (VR) the next big thing? In a way it might be. But already the VR specialists are telling the music industry they are not really interested to team up because our industry is so damn difficult to work with (sure the Paul McCartney VR case is a big hit but that’s brand alignment, a different game). If the music industry is not picking up the challenge to open up the opportunity here, VR will just turn their back and move on without us.

6. Piețe emergente – China pare interesantă, dar cine are puterea necesară?

India! China! Market size: impressive. Business opportunity in the upcoming years for companies with deep pockets? Only if they are deep enough, like hundreds of millions of dollars deep. India is transitioning, consumers are not paying, advertisers are not willing to pick up the check entirely, data and money flows are not transparent. In short, it will take an additional 3-5 years at least to see some profitable models in those regions.

7. YouTube – Monopol imposibil de oprit?

The numbers don’t lie. Most of the music consumption is on YouTube, free of charge. Subscription models from Spotify, Pandora, Deezer etc. are in a downhill race (under US$5 per month). So many musicians and young executives are willing to act, roll up their sleeves and join forces, share their talent. I have never seen an industry with so much grassroots passion to fight for a better future. Together we can!