Asher Roth The Lounge / 127 votes More

Time The Lightswitch / 2807 votes More

Nat Kendall Dignified Man / 42 votes More

Karina Nistal Sweet Rain / 74 votes More

U-N-I Beautiful Day / 149 votes More

Catching Air : The Best Summer Parties

by Asya Shein

Disco at the Edge of the Universe

by Jen Boyles

CSS: Choose Life!

by Michael Vasquez

Synths of Resistance! : Argentina's Digital Cumbia

by Eve Hyman

Air On Sale: Monetizing Music :: Nearly a decade after Napster gave the music world its first heart attack, the industry still hasn’t figured out where the pay checks will come from. DJ Skee gives the old guard three new options.

By DJ Skee   Photography by MK Lane

02/19/08 :: URB 152

Music is more powerful than it’s ever been. Never before have artists had the ability to record something anywhere and be able to instantly get it heard by millions of people within an hour—all at low cost. The digital age has truly revolutionized this business, however, the record labels have yet to capitalize. The problem is that music is free. Labels were too slow to react to the emergence of MP3s, and now, every kid growing up gets nearly every piece of music they have illegally. People are not going to go back to paying for albums. Regardless of your income, if you grew up getting something for free you will inherently feel entitled to it. Imagine someone trying to charge you for breathing air when you’ve been getting it free your whole life.

However doom and gloom this may sound for the music business, it is actually the best time ever. (Even if it remains unbeknownst to them.) Although no one will ever buy a CD after 2009, there is an unlimited number of monetization methods for music beyond the traditional album/cassette/CD plans of attack. The obvious is what is going on now in “mainstream” radio—the smash radio single that sells a ton of ringtones and digital singles. However, this is all the labels have realized so far (and they may not be able to control the rest).

There will be no standard method for making money off music and the era when a select few control and monopolize it has come to an end. Music is increasingly growing more niche-based. The concept that labels haven’t realized yet is that every artist will be able to do something different—there will be no standard formula, despite their desperate search for one.

Imagine if you could subscribe to Lil Wayne’s website (or to an entire label/group/crew) for $20/year and had the legal option to download the 200 songs he puts out each month—along with videos, behind the scenes access and first-hand access to pre-sale tickets.

For other artists, it may be best to drop a physical product entirely. What I did with the American Godfather re-mixtape is give the music away, while producing a super dope, exclusive, high end, limited edition hoodie based around the project. Naturally, it costs a few dollars for the whole package.

A third method that will be successful is partnering with a sponsor to give the music away on your/their website. For example, Pepsi may do a deal with Rhianna, use her in their advertising, make you watch a 10 second ad before you download the album/song/video, and then sponsor her tour. The music is still free, Pepsi gets the demographics, Rhianna makes her money and everybody wins.

A few labels will survive as well, but mold increasingly more into agencies that solicit the sponsors and serve as management. Beyond any of this, there will always be the desire to see a live show that people will pay for, and the more people that hear/download your music the more fan$ will come to a concert.

The future of music as a business is bright and limitless. These are just a few examples of the future, and many more opportunities will come about. It is an amazing time for artists to control their destiny without having the corporate chains of a label around them...they just need to figure out their market and make the right moves to monetize it.