Shared music and big results

A friend recently directed my attention to an interesting article about the top selling albums of 2008 recently, most notably the top grossing MP3 album of the year being Nine Inch Nails’ “Ghosts I-IV”.

As the article points out, this album was issued under a creative commons license, allowing a looser rights management for consumers who have been burdened by rights management issues through major labels and music outlets, such as Apple's iTunes. This right's management even allowed "anyone to use or rework the material for any non-profit purpose, as long as credit is provided and the resulting work is released under an identical license". So, share and share alike.

I’ve already mentioned in this blog, and I believe it to be true, that in order to know where the business of online consumption and business is going, one should look to the music and film industry. It has been the battleground of some of the most important questions in online business development, and NIN has always been one of the trailblazing groups in helping pushing that envelope, but few, if any experts could have foreseen that by allowing music to be shared and redigested in mass could have equaled out to a top grossing effort

Well, I have a couple points of reason that I think contributed to it.

1. Brand loyalty – Like it or not, NIN is a brand in themselves, and over the years of making music, they’ve gained one of the most stalwart fan bases in the world. Their fans want them to succeed, and so even when presented with the option, as they were with the first volume, they chose to pay.
2. Customer education – Trent Reznor and those who work with him have worked hard to educate their fan base to what they hope to achieve, and the possible pitfalls. Their mantra has been largely to further art first while trying to operate within a business. Educating their fans to the difficulties and pitfalls of the business enables the consumer to choose to promote the art themselves.
3. Customer loyalty – NIN rewards fans for caring. It plays heavily into the first point. This even went so far as to the band asking fans to contribute visuals through the band's youtube page to further invest them in the project.
4. Convenience – The album was made available on Amazon, where people are already shopping for music, as well as smaller, less trustworthy sites. You must be where your customer is.
5. Quality – The album has received critical and fan base rave reviews, including Grammy nods. By not diluting their product, the album became something worth choosing to pay for.
6. Distribution options - The first volume, Ghosts I was available for free download. Other options of getting the album were made available, including the full set on Amazon, or collector's editions up to $300.

As time goes on, many places are going to face challenges of effectively competing in the digital world. As time goes on, it becomes more and more apparent that customers are not stupid, and if motivated correctly, will choose to support you.

I believe the strongest point in this is that in order to succeed, you must allow your consumer to participate with you brand directly. By investing in them, you make it easier for them to invest in you.