what’s next for music
Posted by popkitchen | Filed under academic, music, popcult, web 2.0
Faced with the widespread torrent or p2p network downloads, record companies are teaming up with social networks trying to monetize on the increasing online participation.
MySpace Music being the last foray in this area.
As a social network, MySpace has been associated with teenagers and unsigned musicians, who hoped to be spotted and propelled into stardom (there was a rumor about Lilly Allen being discovered through her MySpace page – showbiz parents and access to record labels types had nothing to do with it) or as a support for already established artists. MySpace Music is a community that allows its users to stream music (there is advertising in between) and download selected songs. Major record companies have a stake in the enterprise.
Here is where I see a problem – streaming is nice, as a promotional tool. Check out the album, then buy it or get it some other way. For ongoing music consumption, streaming will not do. Some people came up with ways of showing others how to download the music already on MySpace, so MySpace Music will be no exception I am afraid.
It seems that the only viable model – both in terms adopting the music to digital age and its sale – is Itunes. Portable, beautifully designed player beats streaming or any kind of online community anytime. Which is why MySpace is already thinking about a player.
I would like to look back …. To that ancient time before the rise of social networks. It is almost three years, since I made my profile on Last.fm. At that time, I was curious about the actual statistics of what I am listening (since then I always have an answer to the perennial question “What kind of music do you like?”, I just list my top ten artists from Last.fm) and I had no idea what social network meant. Look you can invite people and even better there are people recommended based on your taste. Online radio, wiki on artists, videos, tour info. For a while it was my favorite online hangout. Made few friendships this way. Nancy Baym, who is investigating fan cultures online, recently published a study on the friendships on Last.fm:
Overall, the “friendships” on Last.fm are pretty weak. The notion that shared taste makes people “musical soulmates” makes for good mythology, it seems, but not strong interpersonal connections.
For us geeks, ways of finding new music are crucial, which is why recommendation system that Last.fm has is helpful. In the past year, they muddled up their great design, so frankly I never got a hang of what are the new advantages.
In the meantime, I realized that there are more things out there. Like Imeem. Or MOG. The former is interesting to me because of its absolute hibridity – social network, music streaming, statistics and content provided by bloggers. Many of them have their own audioblogs and use MOG as a platform to increase their readership. You can read blogs on MOG, without setting up a profile. That is the reason why I am using it for my thesis – from the perspective of labor done in creation of user-generated content and its value – both in economic terms and personal gain/sociability.
But who knows what is next? Something like Lala ….. Too much innovation, if you ask me, too little time for people to accommodate to these virtual settings and limited market. Facebook is popular because all of your friends are there, not those who share your particular tastes. Music services are aiming to people who have extensive tastes and are constantly on the lookout for something new (music and ways to access it), web is enabling them to find whatever niche, not matter how obscure it might be. Still, the number of people, who are willing to do the search and pay for it, is not endless. And they will opt for only one service.
Tags: Facebook, Last.fm, MA thesis, MOG, music, MySpace, online music services, social networking
