Spotted on Techdirt
A recent Wall Street Journal article talked about how the music industry is extending their influence into the world of file sharing. Jay-Z and Coca Cola recently agreed to allow an eight minute video clip to hit the p2p networks, hoping that the exposure for the soda will be worth giving the content away. With this turn of events, major companies are changing their position on file sharing, and admitting that people sharing music online are fans, and maybe the most loyal fans of all.
The new mode of thinking by transnational entertainment conglomerates appears to be ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.’ Groups like Big Champagne are collecting data about all of the files shared online (see this article on them in Wired), and the major labels are using those stats to measure public interest in music at the most specific levels.
It doesn’t take much to realize that the people sharing music for free online are still buying media of some kind, but it’s still surprising the see major media companies admitting to this. By using services like Big Champagne, marketing departments will tweak their promotional schemes based on what’s hot. If major labels know that a track is generating huge interest on Bit Torrent in a particular city, they can just invest in heavy radio rotation on that area.
It seems we will soon be seeing more and more marketing from major brands and labels popping up on peer to peer networks. Just like product placement changed advertising in TV and movies, the p2p networks will soon fill up with free content designed to create brand loyalty and sell products. I wouldn’t be surprised to see corporate sponsorship of p2p networks in a few years, in return for premium advertising, or built in ads on p2p software platforms.
Now that Big Champagne has partnered with SoundScan, the major companies have access to the listening preferences of the largest group of consumers they have ever had access to. The rest of us will be locked out of this system in the same way we always have been.
The co-opting of the p2p landscape by corporate interests will merely push listeners on to a new platform. Considering the continuing row about DRM, it will be interesting to see how that is countered. As mega corporations pour more and more content and marketing tactics into file sharing, and continue to tune their marketing, it will invite a new platform to emerge in the underground of the interweb. Or maybe we’ll all just head back to IRC channels.
The good news is that by shifting their step, the major labels are also admitting defeat to file sharers. The fact that they are now using it as a marketing resource is the only proof required to see that they have lost their battle to control the freedom of information.
Of course, through all of this, there is still very little discussion about what the artist is getting out of all these deals, or even the value of artistic integrity.
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