In the lobby of Accelerating Change conference, someone tells me that accounts at the user-constructed virtual world game Second Life are now free. (They were $10 lifetime membership last year.) They realized that in this day and age attention is the valuable and scarce currency. Why create any friction for folks wanting to give it a twirl? Besides, they make their real revenue selling virtual real estate anyway.
This echoes what Peter Caputa wrote a few weeks back as he offered his criteria for a successful virally marketed service. Number 1 was: "It's free. (Cost is not a barrier to trial)."
Venture capitalist Joi Ito in a late-night session at AC2005 has everyone's attention. "The MP3 is metadata. The artists make money in concerts and endorsements."
When Joi talks with Chinese artists they say: "What's worse than being ripped off? Not being ripped off." They realize that talent languishs in the absence of any audience, and there is less opportunity when you are literally invisible and unknown. They want be listened to and played.
Attention isn't free. We're busy people - busy fans - in a cluttered world where everyone is vying for our attention. Without getting a real taste that hooks me, I'll probably just walk right on by your neon billboard.
Joi goes on to add that the same business folks that sold Pokemon for $2 are now finding that people will pay $2000 for DVD boxed set. Many anime products and videos are distributed freely online. It's the devotees that willingly pay $2000 for the exclusive DVD collection. The new business model gets $2000 from 100 people instead of $2 across 100,000 people.
Ultimately, now it's more about the relationships between artists and their fans, Joi concludes.
Bonus: That "relationships between artists and fans" sentiment echoes an article I read in The Economist's Intelligent Life summer issue titled "Return of the artist craftsman" [premium content]:
Bored with Bulgari, weary of Waterford, even your galoshes are Gucci? [The article goes on to point to trend of unique, commissioned works by designers in jewelry, silverware, glass, furniture and ceramics.]
"I've had people say they go to bed happy," says Mr. Jacobsen [of the Leo Kaplan Modern gallery in NY], "because of the art made for them and their connection to it."
Commissioning also offers an opportunity to form a continuing relationship with a maker whose work you like... Maureen Cahill, director of the Glass Artists' Gallery in Sydney, says that collecting craft objects gives clients the opportunity to buy work throughout a designer-maker's life, taking pleasure as they develop, watching them win prizes and even developing a nurturing relationships with their favorite makers.
In New York, Mr. Jacobsen agrees: "It has been interesting to see the 'patron' aspect of this, helping to free designer-makers to think in a way they haven't before."
p.s. I'll be at Webzine 2005 this weekend if you want to meet up. Webzine 2005 is about independent publishing on the Net (talk about free content): "DIY to its core, Webzine is rooted in zine culture and the love of making our own media." Only $22 for the weekend!
flicker photo by gojumeister tags ac2005 creative class business model art
Comments