The times they are a-changin’.
This post seems to be older than 9 years—a long time on the internet. Dated info and offers may no longer apply. Some technical info might be outdated. Please feel free to post a comment with any updated info .
Media & technology;- Under this umbrella falls The Communicative and Interactive arts such as Music, Media and Gaming, creating industry and opportunity using technology. I asked a friend , a Singer and Musician what were her products… she cited Youtube , CD’S and Downloads. So how’s that working for you, I asked… to which she looked at me as though she had never really thought of it before. I’m rethinking Creativity Fashion, Art, media/Music and Entertainment in the Digital space and as a Creative industry. I’m getting real with creatives asking for help.
When I started this project I was working with The Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium. it gave me an opportunity to observe close up how this sector is affected and how poorly and “traditional” the music sector was.
Music is simply a part of many people’s life, background “noise”, as is most content on the web and like most content in the digital form – media- recordings of audio and video as well as print and digital renderings of words and images are costly to produce. few have figured out how to monetize their efforts. Then there are other needs
- “Proper” Space
- Costly Equipment
- Saturated Distribution arena.
- Affordable IP management
- proven Solid Revenue Models.
But monetization is the sore point. many depend on sponsorship or patronage of some type. we’ve studied discussed and explored various revenue models as far back as 2003. however it always come back to what the media person is offering, Product, Services, merchandise. The media menu is the value component!
That same friend recently made the decision to concentrate on her video rather than invest in a space to expand her workshops. She wanted a grant before she moved ahead. without a track record there would be no grant. I also noted to myself that her determination to “make it Big” put a higher value on the videos that gave her exposure rather than a steady income stream.
Therein lies the biggest challenge the desire for FAME rather than a focus on developing a creative industry create a narrow focus on the opportunities. What if media was taken outside the box… what would they do with technology if they could direct it. How would they , could they monetize it!
Few creatives want to acknowledge that they have a full plethora of responsibility out side of making craft, should they choose to pursue their creativity as a career. Getting real is tough but when we do and give them guidelines I repeatedly see them overcome the hurdles… now if only we can create a shift from FAME.
Innovation and change means working through the kinks in your new concepts. It means educating consumers. Their is such a stake on correctness in teh music and media sector that risk is not encouraged.
We’ve explore an Online Film Festival, I’ve helped choreographer Marlies Yearby explore audio in Virtual Meditations. listened to and viewed a snippet of writer and musician Daniel Jose Older’s newly released Salsa Nocturna. Which hints at new revenue models for media creatives such as this test member ship site.
So how do we encourage creative to be well CREATIVE with their business and revenue models?