We're in an uncertain time for the music industry. As such, we're starting to see many artists experimenting with different new business models to find new ways to make a living from their art as sales drop and piracy continues to be a problem. Given that these are experiments, it would be unreasonable to expect all the new ideas will be gems.
Enter Billy Corgan, the only remaining original member of the Smashing Pumpkins, who according to MusicRadar.com, has hatched a plan to charge his fans $40 a pop for 12 weeks of access to a 'video blog' documenting the process of making the band's next record.
On the one hand, if fans are willing to pay that (and it seems unlikely to me that they will), more power to him, I guess. But it seems a bit cynical to me. Lots of bands maintain blogs, video or otherwise, that are free as it is (like, for instance, this one). Why not make the film about the making of the record and release it on the Internet for free as an advertisement for the record? After all, how long has it been since the Smashing Pumpkins were really relevant? Maybe I'm wrong here, but I think Corgan's thinking is a bit backwards here. What do you guys think?
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6 comments:
Even back in the day when they were relevant, I would not have paid for something like this (had the technology been available, gawd are we that old now? )
I think the NIN pricing scheme has pretty much been the best model for established bands and I also rather like what Depeche Mode did by offering a box set. If the Pumpkins did something similar to that then the cost would be warranted.
Besides, say they do make this web site happen, someone will hijack the feeds and post them on Youtube anyway.
billy corgan = douchebag who is always in it for the money, making money is not bad, but billy corgan unabashedly tries to do so
Hey Billy. Newsflash. If you do something on the internet, you might as well label it public property because everyone will have it. Game over. You lost.
This has me thinking. On the one hand, probably most fans won't pay for it. On the other hand, how many fans does he really need to have pay for it before it's worth doing? If B.C. still has a few thousand fans who'd be willing to shell out for this then it might be worth doing. Truth is, you never really know till you try it. I'd like to know how it winds up working out for him.
I imagine the $40 price tag is there precisely because they know someone will steal it and post it somewhere else. Kind of cynical and kind of desperate, but who knows... experiments sometimes start trends by accident.
But seriously, watching ANY band come up with a record alone is not worth my $40. (Ok, maybe I can think of a couple, but it would still be kind of weird.) Something tells me they have more planned for this...
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