Dear RIAA: Put Napster to Work for You

When the dust finally settles, Metallica finds another misguided cause, and the RIAA has finished fighting off the throngs of Napster imitators and persuading universities around the country to lock them out, one reality will remain: The recording industry needs Napster-like file-sharing technology - desperately. To ignore the power and ingenuity of these applications would be a mistake. We are at the crossroads, and it's time to end the hype and talk about solutions. RIAA members, take heart - we have a plan.

First, forget what you know. The future has nothing to do with the MP3 file format. It's about access to high-quality, meaningful content that bridges the gap between fan and artist. Napster alone simply cannot provide such relationships. Record labels have the opportunity to bring fans into the recording process, onto the tour bus, and into the concert halls. Give the fans virtual and premiere access, and they will greet you with open arms.

Give the People What They Want

We encourage any of the RIAA big dogs with multiple labels under its umbrella to implement a Napster-reminiscent solution incorporating every artist on the payroll - to provide a proprietary (or otherwise acquired) platform, with file-sharing technology as the backbone. The application should be available on-line, and every single CD printed and sold by the label should include the application's installation (.exe) file.

To succeed, the label should follow the lead of Liquid Audio to ensure that its proprietary audio/video files can be decrypted and played by the industry's de-facto standard audio/video players. This will require some new relationships with the likes of Real, Microsoft, and Apple - but it's our guess they're willing to talk.

As users register for the service, they should have the opportunity to select from a complete list of artists under contract, to be updated on the fly as the roster grows. Each time users sign on, the program would scour for the latest content available from the selected artists. This content should include, but should not be limited to, the following:

• Exclusive 3-5-minute audio and/or video interview clips with artists on tour or in-studio.Updates from the road, what the artists ate for dinner last night, how the lead singer broke his tooth on a microphone stand, whatever. The point is, the record company could bring fans closer to the artists, thereby fostering and securing relationships by leveraging the marketing power and immediacy of the Web.

• Sounds from the studio in MP3 format.Who cares if it's an unmastered rough cut of a song that may never make the album? Fans want to hear it. Give them B-sides, exclusive acoustic versions, harmonies, in-studio bloopers, and so on. Again, the bottom line is to build a relationship between artist and fan. And that's the basis for nearly every dime in a record label's wallet.

• Instruments that connect fans to individual musicians.Allow the customization of preferences to be so focused, if desired by the user, that the application will deliver clips of audio/video specific to selected band members. If a user wants to hear a one-minute clip of an impromptu, ripping bass solo by Flea, give it away now. This would provide fans with an unparalleled level of intimacy.

• Recordings of live concerts.Send metafiles to the users through the file-sharing application, allowing them to listen to the latest archived concert from the tour. Forget about live webcasts -- no one's listening live, anyway. Package the concert with album promotions or commentary between songs if you must, but bring the audience along for the ride. They will thank you for it from the bottom of their pockets -- see Phish for more details.

• Premiere access to the first single off the latest album.If labels truly want to retain consumers, they should give the customers free stuff and give it to them first. Any label with an ounce of vision should understand that terrestrial radio will no longer be the venue to launch a new artist or song. Send the fans an encrypted, CD-quality version of the first song off an artist's new album, and make sure this happens weeks before those FM dinosaurs get their hands on it. Remember, you are not selling albums to radio stations, you're selling to the fans. If you don't throw the audience a bone for their loyalty, fans will push you aside. The likes of Napster and MP3.com have proven, time and time again, that users want control of their music. Labels need not provide CD-quality versions of every song, but they must make some provisions. The buying public has been spoon-fed long enough and the Web has finally put those buyers into the driver's seat, so let them borrow the keys.

Marketing: Online/Offline Synergy

Every report available proves no loss of revenue to the members of the RIAA caused directly by file-sharing technology. Labels must simply develop a smart, forward-thinking, reciprocal relationship between their off-line physical products and their Web offerings. In case the labels are still paranoid the public may stop buying CDs, here are some ideas for their marketing teams:

• Put the "I'll have what she's having" dynamic to work.This is where the original intention of Napster can find its greatest value. Give users the ability to set up buddy lists for other registered members. With the click of a button, individuals could anonymously download recently acquired media based on differences in their friends' profiles and preferences. What better way to keep up with the Joneses?

• "If you liked that, you'll love this."Amazon figured this out ages ago. As record labels seem to prey on the idea of signing reasonable facsimiles of popular artists, it's perfectly reasonable and responsible to send e-mail notifications to users based on the preferences and choices made during the registration process. And like any user profile, this would be updated and modified based on changes in user tastes or new artist/genre preferences.

• Team up with the music megastores and provide monthly discounts via US mail for registered users.

• Hold a Willy Wonka-like contest whereby CD buyers over 18 years of age who find a "golden ticket" win a trip to a concert of their choice. (Some kids might be foolish enough to buy several CDs in hopes of winning, which would surely be music to the RIAA's ears).

• Provide exclusive, encrypted tracks on the CD for play on computers.

• Provide low-bit-rate streaming listening stations of entire albums. Push ads to buy the CD on-line within the player window.

• For the love of music, lower the cost of CDs. Any kid with a CD burner knows how little it truly costs to produce a CD, so stop treating them like fools. Any commitment to lower the price of CDs as you launch this prescribed campaign will make you heroes once again.

Encourage Good Habits

Contrary to the record industry's apparent belief, consumers still like to leave their homes and go shopping in three-dimensional music shops. US marketing efforts over the last 30 years have engrained this social activity into our collective consciousness and we promise to pass the trait onto our children. Give a kid a driver's license, and he'll soon show you the stack of CDs he bought at the mall. Humans will still want to physically hold onto their music, peruse the inserts, slide the CD into their stereo, pump up the bass and blast their new grooves until the neighbors complain.

Major record labels may indeed be fearful as they lose their grip on consumer habits, but everything is going to be all right. The Web has already proven itself to be one of the greatest marketing tools ever known, and success will be determined by the communities served -- not by Web executives with IPO dreams. We implore the RIAA to smarten-up, embrace the power of what's available, and for gosh sakes, leave Shawn Fanning alone.