Gnarls Barkley’s Label & Engadget’s Founder Launch Label 2.0
Downtown Records and internet entrepreneur Peter Rojas are launching an online-only record label that will offer free music and generate revenue only via ads and sponsorships, according to the NY Post.
RCRD LBL which will launch this fall, aims to merge free music with niche blogs to offer advertisers very targeted sponsorships. The label will attempt to combine Downtown’s proven ability to identify hit and niche acts – the label’s roster includes Gnarls Barkley and Cold War Kids – with the Rojas’ web experience (he founded such hugely successful blogs as Engadget, Gizmodo and others) to create Record Label 2.0.
"There’s an urgency in the industry to find new ways to monetize content," said one source familiar with the project, "and the economics of the Internet facilitate this model because it allows for a leaner organization while letting fans dictate the process."
Does this mean that only genres and artists who can attract advertising $’s will thrive in music world 2.0? At least somebody’s doing something more than complaining and waiting for a miracle.
Yes, I think that only artists who can attract advertising dollars will survive in the music business of the future, just as only artists who could sell lots of CDs thrived in the past. Advertising won’t be required to survive but to really make it, it will.
Check out the Ad-Supported Music Central blog:
http://ad-supported-music.blogspot.com/
Cool idea — but not necessarily newsworthy just yet — they’ve got no site, no artists and no advertisers to announce. Looking forward to seeing what they’ve got up-and-running in the Fall!