Warner Music will “insist” on online music variable pricing, says Bronfman |
Warner Music CEO, Edgar Bronfman Jr. is not backing down from Steve Jobs over future online music pricing taking a hike. Jobs thinks pricing of more than 99 cents would drive more consumers back to piracy and Bronfman is parrying (via Red Herring) with:
“There’s no content that I know of that does not have variable pricing,” said Mr. Bronfman at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia investor conference. “Not all songs are created equal—not all time periods are created equal. We want, and will insist upon having, variable pricing.”
As mentioned here on August 1, I think this would be terrible mistake by the music companies: “If this is true, these people are the most clueless morons on the planet and deserve to be bankrupted.”
It’s bad enough some of the artists that get gouged by signing contracts that benefit the music companies, but they want to keep sticking it to consumers with over-priced CDs. It’s time for music fans to send the RIAA packing.
If the music companies want to stay relevant than they need to get creative with technology including online distribution and that doesn’t mean producing more lousy DRM strategies that only they think are cool. Ask any music fan if they actually like DRM and they’ll all tell you no way. What’s next, selling CDs with a pair of handcuffs? Quit treating music fans like a bunch of thieving scoundrels and start respecting your customers and having faith that there is a way for everybody to be fairly compensated.
With that said, I’d be willing to pay more than .99 per song as long as every penny went to the artist. I mean, after all, Bronfman does say he is concerned about the artists.
[sigh]
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You may want to check out Magnatunes (www.magnatunes.com). It’s a “sliding scale” try-before-you-buy music store, with (I believe) 50% of the money going directly to the artists. Not 100%, but still a lot better than the… what… 11%, tops, going to artists via iTMS and such?
Plus, I love how Magnatunes TRUSTS its users. You can literally download entire tracks for free, and you’re on your honor to pay if you keep them on your hard drive.
IMHO, *that* is how the music industry should work.
Comment by Adam — September 25, 2005 @ 5:02 pm PST
[…] I wonder how the Warner Music CEO feels about this? The end of the article leaves the door cracked: Some record executives had speculated that the big labels might sign short-term contracts with Apple and revisit the issue later. […]
Pingback by Make You Go Hmm: » Music companies cave for now on renewing iTunes 99 cent music pricing — May 2, 2006 @ 1:07 am PST
[…] Not sure how long hell will freeze over before Warner Bros. jumps in based on past statements made by Edgar Bronfman Jr.. That leaves Sony Music Group who stands beside the entertainment division that has notoriously battled homebrew on their portable PSP platform in the and created the proprietary Blu Ray platform, Universal Music Group and BMG. […]
Pingback by EMI will offer $1.29 DRM-free tracks through iTunes » Make You Go Hmm — April 2, 2007 @ 7:13 am PST