New York Times recently wrote an article about how social media sites will save the music industry. The article discusses how the music industry has struggled to keep users (specifically teens and tweens) from downloading illegal music from the Internet. It has been a struggle for music publishers to find a business model appealing to increase "added value" or a "better form of free".
Two music publishers, imeem and bebo, have successfully created business models based on the idea that "music is a social phenomenon" and the Internet is the perfect medium to promote music. Imeem's website is similar to Twitter by asking users one simple question. "What's on your playlist?" While Beebo draws users by marketing its website stating that its a social media network.
imeem
Imeem helped spear-head the free, advertising-supported music publishing model for online music. This website allows users to legally upload, stream, and share music. In 2007, imeem successfully gained licenses from major U.S. music labels, allowing users to stream music and share music on the Internet. In exchange, imeem has negotiated payment to these record labels to license and play songs on their website. Imeem generates revenue through sales and advertising of MP3s, ringtones, concert tickets, and subscriptions. Currently imeem draws roughly 20 million visitors a month to their website. Steve Jang, imeem's chief marketing officer states that successful websites "are not the ones with the most money or the best of technology, but the ones with the best 'user experience'."
Bebo
Bebo, a social media and music publisher, based its business model on the idea that music is emotional and personal, and users need a website to express feelings. Bebo offers its users this opportunity to get personal with artists by gathering information on fan groups, artists, concert dates, and charts. Additionally, users can download "widgets" to add to personal websites and blogs. Users are also able to bring in music and media from other websites like YouTube. Artists are able to take advantage of Bebo by creating profiles to showcase their music and drive traffic to their personal pages. Bebo has roughly 40 million registered users, and its most loyal age group are teenagers who have the opportunity to socialize with users of similar interest. Bebo's users are very loyal and attached. New York Times states that the average time spend on Bebo is 40 minutes which is "an eternity by Internet social-networking standards."
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