You can’t wrap an mp3
Online music enhances the sampling, sharing and impulse purchasing — but it obsolesces the giving.
I was in a record store on Friday, and there was a couple browsing through the shelves. Before long, the woman went up to the counter with the (excellent) Alice Russell CD, Under the Munka Moon. I overheard the conversation with the staff member at the record store. She asked if she could play the CD before she bought it. Just to check.
“It’s a gift for a friend,” she said. “It looks right — can I hear it?”
Having been satisfied that the gatefold cardboard CD packaging with the nice design looked suitably gift-ish for her (clearly cool) friend, the only thing left to check was to see if the music was a more or less satisfactory fit for the purpose.
Of course, it was.
The artwork, the feel of the design and the aesthetics of the disc had encouraged the woman to buy for her friend. The music was just another part of the experience.
“I hold this in my hand,” she seemed to be saying, “and it says ‘here is what I think of you’”.
So for our purposes, the question becomes — how exactly do you design that sort of gift-giving impulse into the digital music experience, in the absence of tangible packaging?
Here are some thoughts to get you started: you might wish to contribute your own:
1) A subscription methodology. For a one-off “gift-value” charge, provide a monthly or weekly download or membership privlege.
2) Gift vouchers. An easy one.
3) Make it gift-worthy. Include high quality photography and design into what you do. Go for an immersive experience.
4) Why not send it to the giver to present in a handy, gift-wrappable format? Say… a customised USB key with your music, artwork and videos?
5) Offer a personalised message to go with the music. Buy it as a gift, and the artists in question will say a quick happy birthday, anniversary or whatever…
These are just a few ideas.
But it’s worth remembering that music used to be one of the most popular of gifts — and now, online, it’s bought almost exclusively in a first-person fashion, which diminishes your potential market. Might be worth looking for interesting ways to address that situation.
5 Comments. Write a comment or link to this post
John B
Dubber
I just banged this together.
http://web.mac.com/john.burland/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html
It’s missing the tactile experience of the LP cover but it’s fairly content-rich.
And it can be personalised. (Not that I know when your birthday is).
Not sure if the video clip loads properly but a link to YouTube could fix that.
Feb 14th, 2007
Scott
Hey Andrew
I know this probably doesnt really fit this post but it somehow fits the topic..sorta..kinda…
I just finished reading that article about Rough Trades new store and as a few of us locally have been discussing the “artefact factor” this part of the article took my eye:
And a revival in vinyl sales suggests that there may be a future for music sold as a physical arte-fact. Six times more 7-inch singles were sold in 2006 than in 2001, and with their current single, Icky Thump, the White Stripes have achieved higher weekly sales of 7-inches than any band for 20 years. The market may still be small and based on nostalgia, but Rough Trade is in a good position to tap into it, as it already sells 20% of its music on vinyl.
I guess my main thoughts on this are:
CDs are about to become artifacts just as vinyl did (but probably in a quicker fashion)
Hardly anyone values cassettes any more-Will CDs go the same way?
I have been buying interesting vinyl online for some time now because I love the physical product (Grindermans 7″ single is one sided, etched with a killer picture and limited in numbers)
A friend who runs a local CD wholesale/distributorship has booming sales exporting local CDs to Aust where they then get re-exported to Europe. He also imports CDs and DVDsand his business is growing in special niche markets.
Im kinda skeptical about the full demise of record stores as there are loads of young people (here in Dunedin) buying into the vinyl thing. Real Groovy buys it by the pound (lb) in 40ft containers from the US and the local store has a large area dedicated to it. There is now an annual record fair here in Dunedin.
I guess my point is I can see a future where the internet has created a new music buying category:
In stores offering physical product and downloads/uploads/flashcards etc(the stores and record companies havent yet quite figured out how to do this yet-but they will)and;
On the net in terms of the options you have to purchase -limited edition “hard copies”, special downloads with extras attached and the basic download only.
Humans love to shop and while the convenience of ordering online cant really be beaten, the gratification of paying for and receiving the physical item immediately cant be matched.
I know a few folk here who are already picking up last copies of Flying Nun CDs as they can see the value increasing as they become scarce just like the vinyl versions did.
Jul 3rd, 2007
So... What do YOU think?