Tomorrow, Bruce Springsteen’s new album “Working on a dream” will be released. Or rather, tomorrow it will be officially released by his record company (here’s some food for thought – how long will record companies be called record companies? It’s starting to be like calling car manufacturers “carriage manufacturers”, since once upon a time they made carriages, which eventually translated into cars. Today, record companies manufacture and sell less and less music in the form of actual records, soon they won’t at all. What should be their new name?)
No surprise in a new millennium with 2,920 times more impatient consumers, the album has been out for more than two weeks. Just browse some of the millions of “working on a dream bruce springsteen” google hits, you’ll find all the information and sounds there is.
Has Bruce lost sleep over this? Probably not. Quickly adjusting to the new business rules in the Expectations society, the Boss and his crew bank our impatience in a number of ways. First, long before the songs were leaked, anyone, anywhere could pre-order them anytime on brucespringsteen.net. Just ask radiohead (or read the Nextopia book) how much money that’s worth. Second, last Saturday, anyone could download the title track for free on iTunes (certainly a benefit iTunes consider worth money). Third, the story is not all yet. Next, there are the anticipated Guitar Hero tracks…
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Another interesting question is: for how long will there be record companies? Perhaps they will be required as an administrator for the biggest artists (that will probably be smaller in the future when everyone can find a better match to their taste even in music). But to pay the costs for recordings won’t be needed with cheaper and cheaper digital recording advices. And smart artists may promote themselves online (and in the long run with offline spin-off effects) with a very high cost efficiency. What will be the role of the record company in the future? Rethink or die!
Bigge,
I totally agree with your conclusion that (still-but-probably-not-much-longer-called) record companies must rethink or die. Free your mind and your wallet will follow. I don’t think we see the end of the industry, but we certainly see the end of the major function record companies has performed. You’re bang on the buck when you discuss costs. Record companies have embodied the most classic of all market functions – the intermediary between the seller (artist) and buyer (music consumers). In the old millennium, it would be too costly for each seller to interact with each buyer, so record companies produced bulk for the seller(gathering a host of artists, enjoying economies of scale) and broke it down into efficient products for the individual buyer (in the form of records). In the new millennium, artists can reach a great number of music consumers without having to split a large cost, and consumers can efficiently consume their music one-on-one. Not the same need for an intermediary in that sense.
I’d say there is still need for one kind of intermediary gathering bulk – which has to do with timing asymmetry… Get what I’m pointing at?
emvehå,
MD