Gizmodo
Talking to suits at the GSMA Mobile Congress this week, Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. admitted the music industry is at least partly to blame for the woes it's been mired in for years now as well as the fact that they've been "at war" with their customers:
We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won."
He then went on to wag his finger at the mobile industry for offering content that's "boring, banal and basic," telling them they need to step up or suffer the same fate as his own realm:
"People want a more interesting form of mobile music content. They want it to be easy to buy with a single click - yes, a single click, not a dozen. And they want access to it, quickly and easily, wherever they are. 24/7. Any player in the mobile value chain who thinks they can provide less than a great experience for consumers and remain competitive is fooling themselves."But then he goes on to pat Warner themselves on the back for "offering a choice to consumers at Apple's iTunes Store the option to purchase something more than just single tracks, which constitute the mainstay of that store's sales." Wait. Stop. Warner sells whole albums? For one price? On iTunes? No way! That's an absolute deconstruction of the current model of online music sales! Oh, wait.
Anyways, we totally agree with him up to that point: The music industry should get with the program, open up new avenues of sales with reasonable prices, decent bitrates and no DRM. Tossing "ringtones, videos and other combinations" in with albums isn't really more choice, and it's not going to save your business. If you're so enthralled with the iPhone "throw[ing] all the accepted notions about pricing, billing platforms and brand loyalty right out the window," why don't you follow suit?
And yeah, the mobile industry should offer up content we actually want, without gouging the hell out of us just or locking it down tighter than Maid Marian's knickers in Robin Hood: Men in Tights just because it's on our phone. [Apple Insider, Flickr]
Comments
Them waffles sure look tasty.
Glad to see the problems are being recognized... NOW FIX IT AND STOP PROSECUTING PEOPLE FOR RIDICULOUS SUMS OF MONEY! sheesh and sorry everyone for the caps... I know they're so 1992
ROCK ON, RUSUSERURU, CAPSLOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL.
Seriously though, I'm sure there will either be a retraction to his statements about the record industry needing to get with the program, or he'll blatantly contradict himself in another speech or interview in less than two weeks.
It was their war. They drew First Blood.
Well duh. Where has this guy been sleeping the past ten years? Locked in his room playing LP's?
Hehehe. The pictorial reference to everyone's new favourite music source made me smile.
Admitting his problem would be the first step to rehabilitation...
"Hi, I'm Edgar, and I'm an assholiholic"
... And why waffles... dripping in syrup? Looks so good!
@electrikecho:
Well obviously, you're not an OiNKer.
So, is Warners going to get it together with 1-click portability any time soon? Yeah...I thought not.
@Dearhaw: Nope. The first time I heard of them, was when they were shut down.
What? Waffles!
Apple is pretty much killing the mobile space with the iPhone. It's like watching an NBA basketball team go against a team of fifth graders. Buying from the iPhone is pretty seamless.
Meanwhile, mad lolz for the Bronf. The quote he should've added: "And the epic-scale blunders which we're, even now, continuing to make are why I'm resigning my post as CEO. I can't in good conscience pretend I'm a competent decision maker anymore, and I'm not fooling anyone regardless."
artists should come together and sell their music CHEAP to their fans. the record companies don't make sense anymore, they only made sense because the artist coudnt organize the whole selling and marketing of his product. and the record intustry took advantage of that very much.
Bronfman's a genius. If I could get a plate of hot, fresh, crispy, syrup-drenched waffles like that with the purchase of a CD, I'd be buying a lot more CDs.
These days you're lucky if a torrent comes with more than half a stale Eggo. And last week I dl'd one that had a bite taken out of it, no doubt by some Latvian hacker. Gross.
@electrikecho:
Yeah, well, waffles is just a reference to something that happened on OiNKs URL in the aftermath of the take-down. It's now become somewhat of a keyword amongst former OiNKers, and indeed, one of the post-OiNK BT sites is named after said consumable. Whether or not Matt was referring to that is anyone's guess.
1. he says inadvertently, although they knew exactly what they were doing
2. i love how he says "consumers won" as if it was a bad thing, or one of the reasons the industry needed to change ... cant have the customer winning anything now can we.
I wanted to buy an album off the iTunes Store (I had a CD on the way, I couldn't wait). It was a Warner release.
Price for album - $16! I thought they were supposed to be $10 since that's what the iTunes Store is known for (I would've bought it at $10). At $16, it was only a couple bucks cheaper than the CD itself, which I already had. Since it was a Warner release, I couldn't get it DRM free either, or at high bitrate.
Screwed that, downloaded it instead off BitTorrent - I had the CD coming (its arrived already, if you're questioning legality). Ripoff... seems like variable pricing has started to enter iTunes, unfortunately.
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