Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Napster Business Model

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:6/26/2000; 7:25:51 PM
Topic:Napster Business Model
Msg #:18132 (In response to 18130)
Prev/Next:18131 / 18133

Did you ever see the movie Beetlejuice? I'm reminded of the scene when the football team comes into the director's office and says "Coach I don't think we survived the crash."

The director says "You finally got a clue."

The music industry, as far as I can tell, has been gutted. The pantry has been raided. Not by Napster, not by the BBSes, but by their customers. Fed up of waiting for them to let their content be part of the Web, they're busting down the gates.

The email exchange I've been having with the music exec is going nowhere. He told me that Courtney Love does crack, and when I said that's irrelevant, and asked what skeletons he has lurking in his closet, he said she didn't give any numbers, so I referred him to the other piece, which must not have read, because he was still insisting that no one had put numbers on the table.

This discussion started with him telling me that most execs got into the music industry because they love music. Which is another irrelevant thing. As a customer, I don't care a whit why the execs got into their business and if they love the music. They don't love it the way I do, with the ease of use of the Internet added in.

These people don't use the Internet, and they certainly have never created content for the Web. So their arguments in response to our arguments never take into account our side of the story. Geez, I could sell their product on website. I want to make them money. Like a lot of other people I've been waiting for years. Writing about it publicly, and always getting the same kind of superior "I can teach you something kiddie" attitude.

The frustrating part is that this is going to be such an incredible business for them when they stop fighting it.

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