Nearly a year ago, Pascal Nègre, the CEO of Universal Music France, declared: "The public has never listened to music so much as today while paying so little for it."
To solve the problem : "We are currently looking for alternative sales models that are more adapted to the latest technological innovations."
In other words, a business model is dying. Technology is being blamed. Suddenly, it has taken the professionals by surprise. The debate on what is called illegal downloading always concerns payments and sales, never the music itself. New business models are explored when it comes to the sales transaction while the evolution of the product over the past years is totally ignored.
Since the radio developped on a large scale, nearly a century ago, music has actually been free. We are so used to it that no one cares to mention the fact anymore. What the consumer pays for when buying a record is not the music itself but the capacity to control its consumption by reproducing it at any time.
Constantly on the air, music can also be heard in elevators, lounges or shops, and it is most often related to advertising. It has become a background noise which is part of the scenery of the merchant environment. Through a low but steady process the function of music has become less and less esthetical and more and more pragmatical.
"The shift of affects towards the use value creates a situation where nothing is expected from music anymore. " This was written by Theodore Adorno in 1937 ! Anticipating the future, he added : "The listeners behave like children. They repeatedly request the same recipe that has already been served to them." This is an accurate description of the present situation.
By selling music to the broadcasting companies, the producers have contributed to turn it into a free product, at least for the consumers who in the meantime have become addicted to it.
The development of digital music, therefore, is not the real cause for the downfall of the classical business model. It is only a strong revealing factor of a situation that has developped throughout the 20th century.
This example is an opportunity to point out that a business model is not a pure transaction device. It always develops around a supply to the public which is unconscious and likely to change as society evolves. The purpose of strategic innovation is to anticipate this kind of evolution before things change suddenly out of control.
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