Jed Hallam

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Ownership and the web

Geek

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August 22, 2009 View Comments

So a little humdrum kicked off a few days back regarding Spotify. I’ll give you the spark notes…

Loren Feldman of 1938 Media believes that Spotify is a house of cards (the video, in case you missed it), that Spotify is built on an unsustainable business model and that music subscription services don’t work because people want to own their music.

Now in my opinion, he’s not a million miles away, music subscription services haven’t  worked before – but his argument on ownership is.

Loren believes that you have to physically own a CD to have a connection to it. Nope, wrong.

Music is beautiful, disgusting, emotional, cold, heart-warming, soul destroying. Music is emotion. And emotion is about connection rather than ownership. Here’s what I’m trying to get at; if you read a book and it changes your life, you don’t have to own a copy for it to still have an effect. You’ve already got your connection. The artist doesn’t make the jewel case, he makes the music.

Once Spotify goes mobile (which will hopefully be soon) it’ll be as dramatic as the invention of MP3’s. And everyone wins, the artist still makes a living (albeit a slightly more modest one, but artists should create for art’s sake, not for fame or money – that’s an argument for another day).

You don’t need to own something to be connected to it. You just need to be able to connect to it.

  • Dan
    I agree with what you're saying. Not sure books are the best for comparison though. Like Stuart says, books have a timeless quality, and you don't have to use them to enjoy them.

    But I definitely agree with what you're saying about music subscription services. I don't feel much of a connection to CDs – they're nice, but they ain't that special. LPs on the other hand are special – with the artwork, quality and ritual of playing them – but that's a different kind of music enjoyment, and definitely more similar to owning a book.

    But music subscription is all about convenience. Finding music, playing it whenever you want, making and sharing playlists. Mint! When could you ever do that before subscription services? And doing that on the move when Spotify mobile comes in is going to make it even better.

    For me, they're two different kinds of music enjoyment. Maybe it's an age thing that older generations don't seem to recognise the latter?

    Anyway, Spotify is kind of like renting the music anyway. You can still listen to it whenever you want (or at least you will when a mobile player comes to the market). And since when did you ever have to own something to enjoy it?
  • Not sure I agree Jed. It's your book analogy that highlights why, for the opposite reason to you say. If a book profoundly moves you then how could you possibly not want to own it and cherish it? You don't even need to re-read it, you can just look at it to get a buzz. It's the same with the music played at our wedding. We own the CD and just looking at it and picking it up creates a feeling. I like the fact that my books and CDs (and LPs!) will age gracefully with me. Simply listening to it on a subscription service doesn't even come close.

  • BLOG: Ownership and the Web. Http://rock-star-PR.com/ownership-and-the-web/ (wanna hear from @renate @geetarchurchy and @1938media)


    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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