Posts Tagged: new media ads

I am still unconvinced that this Free economic model will translate easily to certain forms of art. A musician must be independent in order to exploit this economy, because record labels in America don’t have business model that gives away music. Underground rap artists use the free mixtape circuit to create ‘max distribution’, creating an audience by literally giving away mixtapes (or selling them at bargain basement prices.) This gets them name recognition much faster than they could get on a label, and allows them to capitalize on that notoriety in the future. Artists like Drake and Nikki Minaj were touring with well known acts simply off the strength of mixtape recognition – but again, they were not signed to major record labels. Exceptional musicians can parlay free music into tour and merchandize money, but I remain unconvinced that can work for the average artist.

That’s my biggest criticism of Anderson’s view. It seems overly optimistic and somewhat elitist. He focuses on the exceptional cases – the Googles, the Wikipedia’s, the RyanAirs, and extrapolates an entirely new business model from them. Even when takes the ‘micro’ view and looks at folks who make money through Second Life, I still doubt the overall feasibility of it all. When it comes to people who actually make a living in this Free economy, we are still in the early stages. It is premature to assume that the average Joe Blow who works at the gas station or inspects parts on an assembly line will be able to transition to this new economy. And if THAT guy can’t, what does that say about our country overall? Or the ultimate feasibility of Free?