tollie.org/blog thoughts and reflections of Tollie Williams

The future of music is like water, and it’s here.

First off, I'm not affiliated with lala.com in anyway. I'm just excited that a music store has finally launched using the future business model of music.

In summary: the future of music is to be like water. Consider the water fountain. The water is not free to the business that provides it, but it is free to customers. Next to the water fountain is a vending machine selling bottled water that costs $1. The water is free to enjoy, but you pay for the convenience.

This business model came to the book world prominently in 2004 with the release of the 9/11 Commission Report. It was available for free online and could be downloaded for free, (Audible even released it as a free audiobook) but for the convenience of having it as a paperback it was sold in book stores. And it was a best-seller.

Here's how Lala.com works:

• They have most the music you'd expect.
• You can listen to any song on the store once (you must be signed in to listen to the full song).
• Pay 10 cents and you can stream the song unlimited.
• If you pay to stream and later decide to download it as a 256kbps DRM free MP3 (89 to 99 cents), the 10 cents counts towards your MP3 purchase.
• They have a program that will scan your computer for MP3s, AACs, and even iTunes Music Store songs. If the songs are found in the lala catalog, they will become available for listening online as if you had paid lala.com for them.
• They even allow you to upload your own MP3s to listen to them via lala.com from anywhere.
• And of course, it has the social aspects that you should expect to find in a modern business model store: friending/following, recommendations, share links, "most popular", etc.

My twitter/twit-army posts about this generated a good bit of discussion. I'm reposting them here:

from http://army.twit.tv:

tollie: I'm definately giving up iTunesStore and Amazon-MP3 for http://www.lala.com - finally the future business model of music comes to a store.

kylehase: @tollie Doh! lala only works in the US. International restrictions are really starting to piss me off. First it was Anathem on Audible...

tollie: @kylehase Sorry. That is dumb. The only thing I can say is, lala.com seems to "get it" so hopefully, they're advocating for int'l listeners.

tollie: @kylehase The other "only thing" I could say is... if you paid for a proxy service that's US based, and had a US credit card... Good luck.

randulo: @tollie remember it isn't Hulu but their content owners that refuse international access because of rights.

tollie: @randulo I agree, but my point was Lala wasn't created by the labels. They seem to "get it." I hope they are working toward global audience.

tollie: @randulo The best I recall, Hulu was _created_ by the studios, to combat sharing and openness, so my hopes for them "getting it" are ~ 0.

kylehase: @tollie @randulo I have my own US server and a US credit card but even good proxies have overhead so streaming video can be problematic.

kylehase: @tollie @randulo It's the principle of the thing that bothers me. I understand that marketers want to target specific regions but still...

tollie: @kylehase Understood, and agreed. I understand the idea of differnet markets too, but the labels need to realize they no longer control it.

kylehase: @tollie Amen, and until they do they will never be able to control piracy.