Comments on: Everything That Will Happen In The Music Business’ Future May Have Happened To Brian Eno And David Byrne

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:50:47 +0000

And y’all have to admit that the embeddable album player is pretty snazzy.

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:49:30 +0000

@owenmeany: I don't know what the business model is other than getting a cut of sales, I think. To be honest, it wasn't the focus of the article for me. I was more interested in the idea of fans engaging in commerce with the artists themselves, with minimal interference.

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:48:30 +0000

@scottmcd: I think you are right here about the potential irrelevance for Topspin, but these tools are still not readily available to everybody not named Brian Eno or David Byrne. Who knows what Topspin's model is, but I'd give them a cut if they created that embeddable player with me that also linked to a store and gathered emails for an MP3 download trade. This is all stuff I can do on my own, but doing so takes a bit of time. They said the Eno and Byrne got a "majority" of the profits, and I suspect that Topspin's cut is probably comparable or less than iTunes.

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:46:33 +0000

@Jinsai: Of course that's nothing new, but that's not the point of this. The point is that more artists are cutting out middlemen and communicating more directly with their fans for higher yield sales. What else would you have them sell?

By: Marth

Marth — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:57:11 +0000

Step 1: Be David Byrne
Step 2: Record with Brian Eno
Step 3: ...Profit!

/Deadspin meme for a Topspin post.

By: TheContrarian

TheContrarian — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:32:52 +0000

Great post, Lucas.

By: scottmcd

scottmcd — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:27:38 +0000

If anything this looks like a self-help kit for major labels. You've got a cool new platform with options where the band can potential make more money, but the label could create something similar and still make some dough also.

I too would love to know how much Topspin is going to make from each artist?

I like the idea, but ultimately shouldn't the artist just do it themselves instead of paying a fee to Topspin? How hard is it to start your own blog, sell downloads and merch, and market to other taste maker blogs?

By: Jinsai

Jinsai — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:02:12 +0000

I think it's funny that he talks about how dead the CD business is, and how they're going to change the paradigm...and then TopSpin/Byrne & Eno sold...a CD.

But you could get it in a REALLY fancy box if you wanted. Or not.

Also they sold downloads.

Last time I checked, that's what everybody else is doing (and has done).

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:27:59 +0000

A question for you, Mr. Lucas Jensen – did Ian Rogers give any explanation in his presentation about how Topspin generates revenue for themselves? I’d love to know what his biz model is…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:22:03 +0000

@troybulldogs21:
I think it depends on your definition of an artist's success, which you didn't really expand upon other than to say that a successful artist is heard and read about by outsiders. Does that mean the artist is successful? Ask that question to an artist - the answer would be a resounding NO. You'd be hard-pressed to find an act that's happy to say, "Well, they got me on MTV, but I'm homeless."

I'm happy to break down how a label financially 'screws' the artist, but it'd be a long read and most you may already be aware of.