Are Mp3’s History??!
Well, MP3’s may not yet be a thing of the past but there is definitely a new technology that may soon be competing with them. It is a USB flash drive that almost takes the place of a CD. On this flash drive, is the artist’s album, music videos, and a few other extras that you couldn’t find on a CD. Once you plug it into your USB drive in your computer, you can either upload it into your Itunes library, or just listen to it as is.
I first heard about this crazy concept from my friend Aimee, who is in the music industry and when she went to her record label in NYC, they gave her one of these and said ‘This is the new thing.” It was a Matchbox Twenty USB Drive bracelet with their new album, “Exile on Mainstream” with music videos, band interviews, and album art on it.
CRAZY!! I thought it was a really interesting idea..definitely creative. And I think the industry really needs to be super creative at a time where they’re losing so many consumers to mp3’s and free online downloading. Also in the works is not only just albums, but live concert recordings you can purchase at the show as well, which is definitely brilliant because I know that I would buy it. I love live concert recordings, especially if it’s from a show that you were at because it’s just really reminiscent for me.
Other bands such as The Mars Volta, Ringo Starr, and Jennifer Lopez have also hopped onto the bandwagon, with more expected in the near future. The Austin-based All-Access company has signed deals with Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, and EMI to make these USB bracelets with other artists. They believe that fans will want to buy these bracelets more than just downloading the mp3’s because it’s actually solid merchandise that in order to get those extras such as band interviews and pictures, etc. that mp3’s or a CD doesn’t have, you have to buy one of these bracelets. It is also free promotion for the band when other’s look at the bracelet. They are hoping this merch will be consumed by the hard-core and loyal fans, because they know they are more likely to consume stuff because of their strong passion for the music. It’s interesting to see this is why, seeing as I just read a lot from Henry Jenkin’s about this idea of the loyal fans. It looks like the industry is now starting to catch on and realize that they can no longer gear things towards a general audience if they really want to make money.
The only downside for the record industry is that it does cost more to make these USB drive bracelets than it does to produce a CD. They normally range from $5 to $7, but there can be more expensive ones. The price will most likely become less to make and probably to buy as more and more bands turn to this instead of CD’s. The good news for smaller bands and independent ones is that it is cheaper to actually buy just 100 of these than it is to buy 100 CD’s. The price’s for us consumers to buy these range from $25-$50, which is definitely a bit pricey. Personally, I would probably not buy the USB-drive bracelet with just the new album, etc. that I could just buy as mp3’s of course unless it was from my favorite band Hanson. But I would as I previously said, definitely 100% buy the live recorded concert USB drive bracelet because of my live for live music. I think that idea will go far if bands start selling that with their merch at concerts. Other than that, props to the record indsutry for actually trying to be innovative in a time where they really needed to be. It could possibly be a good save, but we don’t know yet. At least we’ve reached a time where media convergence is constantly occuring, industries are merging with others to create new products, and producers are actually realizing how important loyal fans are as consumers, and giving them what they want. It is definitely refreshing to see that it is no longer the producers with all the power over us consumers. It is now becoming more of an equal relationship and I’m so interested in where this is going to take us in the future.
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