Squeezing the Evil
out of the music industry
John Buckman <john@magnatune.com>
http://slideshare.net/johnbuckman
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Squeezing the Evil
out of the music industry
John Buckman <john@magnatune.com>
http://slideshare.net/johnbuckman
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Personal

My Journey

From
Open Source
Geek

int Ns_ModuleInit(char *hServer, char *hModule) {
nsdbContext *context = ns_malloc(sizeof(nsdbContext));
Ns_RegisterShutdown(nsbdShutdown, context);
if (hServer) {
context->server = ns_malloc(strlen(hServer)+1);
strcpy(context->server, hServer);
} else {
context->server = NULL;
}
if (hModule) {
context->module = ns_malloc(strlen(hModule)+1);
strcpy(context->module, hModule);
} else {
context->module = NULL;
}
Tcl_InitHashTable(&table_handles, TCL_STRING_KEYS);
dbenv_start(home);
Ns_MutexInit(&mutexBDPut);
Ns_MutexInit(&mutexBDSync);

To
Open Culture
Nerd

from
Legally
Ignorant

1993
(I was 24 years old):
Desktop Internet Reference

License:
The Desktop Internet Reference
is in the public domain
and may not be sold...

That makes no (legal) sense.
but it was a
“CC by-nc-sa” concept

to
Stallman

http://www.samag.com/documents/s=1148/sam0107a/0107a.htm

to
Lessig

to
Blissful
Enlightenment

Amarok
Rhythmbox
Songbird
Squeezebox

Bang & Olufsen
Renault

Blair Witch Project

Ubuntu
&
Canonical

It’s all good

from
Introverted
by nature

A film:
“Defending
Your Life”

Toastmasters

to
Extroverted
by choice

A bit more
Activist

Wanting to
sleep better at night

Lyris

Majordomo

Mailman

Unhappy

Sold out

But, there was a problem.

Our business model sucked.

BIG music license fees
are an old-boy network

Our download advantages:
* no drm
* high audio quality
* musicians get paid

Yawn.
iTunes does that all now.

Cory Doctorow says:
DRM is not a feature

I say:
The lack of DRM is
also not a feature.

Our consumer model is outdated.

In 1970:
Shopping for music is fun!

In 2000:
Shopping online for music is fun!
(just like in a physical store)

In 2008:
Shopping for music online is boring

Find a teenage girl
Look at her iPod

You will find:
Collections
Music from my friend Amy
That cute DJ
Chill out
I wanna feel good! music

Our analysis:
being a music librarian is no fun
- picking music is tedious
- backing up, moving music is work
- “I just want to listen!”

Our analysis:
People want access,
they want curated collections,
they want simplicity.

Our new business model

Help us stop selling you music

Tell us how much you want to pay
each month

We give you complete access to
our music, in every way you can
imagine

streaming from work
downloads
3g iPhone app
web player
multihour podcasts
Creative Commons legalized sharing

completely changes the seller/buyer
dynamic

“customers”
become
“members” and
“supporters” and
“connectors”

and all I need to worry about is
keeping them happy.

Forget B2C!
What about B2B?

US music business is
$18 billion annually

$12 billion of that is licensing

Yes, 2/3rds.

Record labels are scared, slow,
stupid.
And they’re downsizing.

And many companies are out-
competing them with licensing.

Our niche:
rights you can’t get elsewhere

Renault Megane

From the producers of
The Blair Witch Project

To summarize

Music licensing is an ok business
slow to build,
focus on untapped niches

Download sales are dying

For now:
Memberships,
all-you-can-eat,
no restrictions,
works.

Magnatune won’t
take over the world

but it can make a contribution

and it’s a nice way
to spend a decade of my life

Home bookshelves
around the world

Their books available to you

for free

and nothing publishers
can do about it

BookMooch
makes money with:
- margin on Amazon sales
($40,000 in monthly Amazon book sales)

Twenty companies
The largest:
BookCrossing
PaperbackSwap
BookMooch

Estimate:
Two million people
have tried book swapping

At least
50,000 books
are swapped
each day

Google loves us

BookMooch - total number of swaps

800,000 in 2nd year
300,000 in 1st year
BookMooch - total number of swaps
1 year ago: 300,000 - now at 1.1 million

Book swapping web sites
will be the first global, free
repository of most historical
human knowledge

Whatcha think?
John Buckman <john@magnatune.com>
http://slideshare.net/johnbuckman
CC BY-SA 3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/