“MySpace is going to do a digital music store. Well, sort of. Actually, it’s going to enable unsigned artists to sell songs online. That’s a logical, cool service for the thousands of bands with pages on MySpace, and for their fans. And MySpace addresses several issues that are huge challenges facing retailers trying to make a business out of a la carte downloads,” David Card blogs for JupiterResearch.
“But it’s not going to make anybody any serious money anytime soon,” Card writes.
“Yes, Virginia, there is a long tail. No, no company in the entertainment business can make a lot of money off of supporting only the tail, without also delivering the hits. And for now, no rockstars or major labels are going to be interested in unprotected MP3s, which is what MySpace will offer, except for promotional purposes,” Card writes.
Card writes, “MySpace is going to let the artists charge whatever they want. Variable pricing is not that big a deal. First, it’s not completely variable, because of that flat-fee charge — and there are no album discounts yet. But more important, according to the latest JupiterResearch (unpublished) survey results, 99 cents remains the sweetspot for what people are willing to pay for a digital single from their favorite band. In fact, a broad swath of young-ish adults, from 18 to 44, like the 99-cent price point, it’s only geezers that force the median price point down.”
Card writes, “Variable pricing for digital music is inevitable, and will ultimately be a good thing. But right now, Apple is right: simplicity is better at this early stage of the market. Oh, and if anybody was wondering whether MySpace is a threat to the iTunes Music Store — let alone the iPod — the answer is ‘not in the slightest.'”
Full article here.
Related articles:
MySpace plans ‘alternative’ to Apple’s iTunes Music Store – September 05, 2006
Attacks likely to prove futile against Apple’s iPod+iTunes de facto standard – September 01, 2006