Music

UPDATE: This was very much a stream of consciousness blog post, where I wrote down my thoughts as they occurred to me. Among other things, this meant that it lacked a good summary of what it is actually supposed to be about. The basic idea was/is to take Clayton Christensen’s theory of disruptive innovation in business and apply it to music and (by extension) to other arts, with a goal of sketching out a “unified field theory” that (with suitable elaboration) could potentially explain how music evolves not only from an aesthetic perspective but also in terms of the sociology and economics of the communities of composers, performers, critics, educators, audiences, etc., who participate in particular musical traditions and movements. I referenced Kyle Gann a lot because for a while I’ve been reading his blog and his writings on “downtown” vs. “uptown” music, but the themes of the post are really more in line with the writings of people like Alex Ross and (in particular) Greg Sandow who’ve been writing about the future of classical music in relation to popular music and the rest of contemporary culture. ...

Given the extent to which Michael Jackson the person was crushed beneath the weight of Michael Jackson the commercial phenomenon, it’s sadly appropriate that his death should allow Sony Music Entertainment and eMusic to conduct a natural experiment in maximizing profits through price discrimination. Jackson’s death has rekindled interest in his music, to the point where Michael Jackson albums now dominate the charts at the iTunes Store and Amazon. As far as I can tell all the Michael Jackson digital releases on the iTunes Store are being sold at full-price; the same is true for Michael Jackson releases in MP3 format at Amazon. Individual Michael Jackson tracks range from $0.99 to $1.29 on both services. ...

In my previous post I lamented the demise of eMusic as I’ve known it, and in preparation for the future discussed my “jobs to be done” related to discovering and listening to music: Casual listening to familiar music at my computer. Casual listening to familiar music when I’m offline. More focused listening to a) familiar and b) less familiar music while driving. Auditioning music for inclusion in my core collection. Here’s how my jobs to be done match up with various digital music products and services being offered today: ...

In less than a month my grandfathered eMusic Basic 2-year plan (40 tracks per month at a cost of $7.49 per month or $0.19 per track) will end, and I’ll face a choice of what to do next. eMusic’s suggestion is that I go for a eMusic Plus Annual plan: 35 tracks per month at a cost of about $14.33 per month or $0.41 per track. However rather than simply going along with an almost doubling in cost of my music buying habit, I’ve decided to rethink how I actually discover and listen to music, and look at additional possibilities beyond eMusic (or to supplement eMusic) that might serve me better at a comparable cost to what I’ve been paying. This also leads to some thoughts on how eMusic could become a better service from my point of view or, alternatively, how a new service could replace eMusic in my affections. ...

Most of the press coverage of the eMusic/Sony agreement has been either regurgitated press releases and echoes of the original New York Times story, or stories about the backlash from eMusic subscribers. I have a standing Google search for “eMusic” and see tons of this stuff. However there is actual smart analysis being done out there, and here are two examples. As seems to be typical nowadays, these are not from traditional media or business journalists but from a blogger turned pro and a musician who blogs. ...