if they can't make the cost of managing at most one website per country you do business in, plus the appropriate relationships with shipping / advertising / aggregators cost less than running the physical side, they're again Doing It Wrong.
Well, they're probably taking just about enough cash to make it work for the time being (I'm probably thinking more Beatport etc than iTunes here), but shifting the units that they used to a decade ago just isn't going to happen. To me it seems more a case of Did It Wrong and Trying To Hold It Together. I'm reminded of that statistic where most businesses make a loss in the first 3 years, and I think that the digital sales market still has to get rolling properly, but certain elements of the industry need to wake up and move with the times.
Subscription models like Spotify might be the way it's going to go, to an extent, but I don't know how well that'll work for indie labels.
You know, the tiny file shop might even be a workable concept - tinny indistinct files? Perfect for playing on mobile phones that don't have the clarity for a 320.
Actually, I hate that a big chunk of a generation seems to think that's a reasonable medium for listening to music (especially music that's meant to be bass heavy), but that's another rant.
You've prob seen this already, but John Freese might have hit upon a good new idea for adding value:
no subject
Well, they're probably taking just about enough cash to make it work for the time being (I'm probably thinking more Beatport etc than iTunes here), but shifting the units that they used to a decade ago just isn't going to happen. To me it seems more a case of Did It Wrong and Trying To Hold It Together. I'm reminded of that statistic where most businesses make a loss in the first 3 years, and I think that the digital sales market still has to get rolling properly, but certain elements of the industry need to wake up and move with the times.
Subscription models like Spotify might be the way it's going to go, to an extent, but I don't know how well that'll work for indie labels.
You know, the tiny file shop might even be a workable concept - tinny indistinct files? Perfect for playing on mobile phones that don't have the clarity for a 320.
Actually, I hate that a big chunk of a generation seems to think that's a reasonable medium for listening to music (especially music that's meant to be bass heavy), but that's another rant.
You've prob seen this already, but John Freese might have hit upon a good new idea for adding value:
http://soundcheck.freedomblogging.com/2009/02/20/want-josh-freese-to-join-your-band-got-75000/4962/
Nicely spotted on DVDA btw ;-)