Big Buzzzzz about TechCrunch as they announce: We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet For $200. Help Us Build It.
Here’s the basic idea: The machine is as thin as possible, runs low end hardware and has a single button for powering it on and off, headphone jacks, a built in camera for video, low end speakers, and a microphone. It will have Wifi, maybe one USB port, a built in battery, half a Gigabyte of RAM, a 4-Gigabyte solid state hard drive. Data input is primarily through an iPhone-like touch screen keyboard. It runs on linux and Firefox. It would be great to have it be built entirely on open source hardware, but including Skype for VOIP and video calls may be a nice touch, too.
Wow! Sounds Great! But Wait! How is this going to affect the music biz?
My Google Reader is already thick with it. Bruce Warila at Music Think Tank asks; Could The TechCrunch Tablet Be The Final Nail In The Music Sales Coffin?
Imagine every kid carrying one of these around in his or her backpack. Full screen browsing! Go to any music 2.0 site and interact with the full kit; not the watered down version you experience on a smart phone; you get it all: commenting, friends, music players, blogs, schedules, videos, sharing, streaming, etc. What do you need to buy or own music for?
What to do? What to do!!?? How will a musician be able to make a buck? Bruce has the answer.
Music will not be your primary product; it will be a component of your brand. Imagine your blog filling the screen above. It’s imperative that you build your own brand, or become part of a boutique brand on the Internet.
Thats right, the “B” Word. It’s all about branding from here on out kids. Music will not be your primary product, gotta build your brand. Develop your brand.
Screw that. Fuck a bunch of branding. I’m sick of hearing it.
Everyone is worrying about how everything is going to impact the music business, How everything is going to affect commerce.
I’m worried about how all of this change is going to affect music. If music isn’t going to be the primary product, if it’s just going to be a component of the “brand” then, what we will have is a bunch of entertaining bloggers not, musicians.
All of this stuff is going to wash out one way or the other.
One Way:
Music will be paid for by a monthly tax, imposed by governments, or a monthly fee, imposed by ISP’s. All the music ever released will be available to consumers. All the money will go into a convoluted pool and divvied up by some convoluted system which will give big operators unfair advantages and is subject to be gamed by cheaters. But, musicians who are truly independent and, doing quality work, will be given some incentive to go on.
The Other
Nobody gets paid for music ever again, and creative musicians take their collective ball and go home.
It’s going to go One Way not The Other. But, it’s going to take a while. Musicians need to concentrate on music. All of this branding stuff is overrated. It’s for the Radioheads of the world. I’m not saying musicians shouldn’t blog. They should, it’s fun. And, it may develop a “brand” a little bit. But, the best thing musician can do, is pick up the instrument and play, write a song, create something interesting. That’s the best thing you can do for your brand.
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Tags: Biz, branding, Bruce Warila, Music, music biz, Music Business, TechCrunch
Pat Darnell and Friends wrote,
I’m really into the brand thing. You know a fourth gen Texan, and all. We brand our heifers, steers and …women. Yeah, right!
Okay so that is the brag — but we are in the new century, at least a majority of us is.
So, I notice you have been hitting the brand thing pretty hard… and that tells me you are telling us that this is the new venue. I agree, but may not be on the same wave, there “IT surfer dude from the Ozarks.”
Here is the thing I keep thinking about: a Brand has to have a history to be a Brand… right? Brands are Historical Markers.
Such as that yankee Bowie and his Bowie Knife… there is usually a story of survival or bloodshed for the Brand… no?
Therefore, in the last Brand Part 8, we have been beating to death the Goat and its trail of Brands. Billy Goat Tavern
I ask, why am I beating that brand thing to death… because I know that it is the next venue… for Rock a’ Billy and everything in between… That is why I am offering a Brand to be reverse engineered… and applied to the next wave of performing arts:
Goat Butt / Zebra Kick Shopping Center
This is in response to the new Global Strip Center as I see it appearing in the Blogoshpere, five boutiques and an anchor store, such as:
Royalty Revealed — Prince Williamâ??s Knight of the Garter crest has been revealed for the first time - complete with a touching tribute to his late mother.
Youth and Depression and Gayness MusicTherapy-orama — Referring to his late 20s and his relationship with Anselmo Feleppa, he said: “It was a terribly depressing time. I had my very first relationship at 27 because I really had not actually come to terms with my sexuality until I was 24.
Living Fast/ Dying Early Spa and Wax Museum — Amy Winehouse’s parents Mitch and Janis unveiled a wax figure of the troubled singer - complete with trademark beehive and sailor tattoos - at London’s Madame Tussauds today.
Branding Iron — Far from writing her own novels, Miss Price - better known as Jordan - instead reveals she merely thinks up the plot - leaving the complex task of conjuring up the golden prose to an assistant.
Global Court TV — Residents of the Greek island of Lesbos have lost their legal bid to ban the use of the word lesbian to describe gay women.
– and the anchor store at the global strip center –
One Stop Fountain of Youth Store — Use of the laser allows precise treatment, giving the surgeon more control over the resurfacing procedure than is possible with other treatments such as chemical peels and dermabrasion,’ they report in the latest Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery journal.
Link | July 23rd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Pribek wrote,
“So, I notice you have been hitting the brand thing pretty hard”
That’s because I’m getting a lot of, “Music will not be your primary product; it will be a component of your brand.”, kind of input.
Link | July 23rd, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Bruce Warila wrote,
“Music will not be your primary product; it will be a component of your brand.”
I am not sure why some people chafe at this concept? Mass-marketed, standalone music has only been around for what 50 to 75 years? Prior to that, music was a component of an artist’s brand.
I don’t think the last fifty years have been all that liberating for artists. How many artists make a good living from selling recorded music; that either of us know? Personally, I don’t know many.
The fact that the Internet enables someone to build a global brand (as well as a local brand); with music as a component of that brand; be it as a loss-leader or not, seems pretty liberating to me..
Cheers,
Bruce
Link | July 26th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Pribek wrote,
Bruce, I’m glad you stopped by. I singled you out here because, your post was the one that came up first on my reader at that moment. I know that you know you aren’t the only one out there saying this. I do read your stuff daily and am a fan of yours.
I get frustrated hearing the branding talk. I think that if your brand isn’t based on your primary focus, that it is an inefficient brand. I think that if you spend half your time working on music, but not selling it and, the other half of your time marketing and selling other stuff, you’re doing two things half-assed. You’d be better off spending all of your available time developing, marketing and selling the products that are viable.
You know, I do know a number of people who have made a good buck by creating music. The common thread between all of the people that I know is, a level of quality. The level of quality is, without exception, a result of a dedicated pursuit of quality.
I also know a great deal of people that never have cracked the code, people who have done quality work and just scraped by. In the end, I think you have a lot better chance of coming up with that one song or, one record that does become a sustaining revenue stream if, you are able to devote more time to the pursuit.
Brand names have traditionally been built on quality. This goes for selling shoes or creative content.
I don’t disagree with the principals you encourage Bruce. I think that a musician that doesn’t take advantage of the opportunities available to build a global brand, is missing the boat. But, I also know that, in order to build a sustaining career, you have to write a good song, learn how to play. However it washes out, that’s the best thing you can do to develop a brand.
Link | July 26th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Bruce Warila wrote,
We are in complete agreement. Quality Songs = Quality Brand = Quality Income (unless you have not “cracked the code”).
I did not take your post personally..
Have a great weekend..
-Bruce
Link | July 26th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Pat Darnell and Friends wrote,
Does that TechCrunch also come in TechCreamy?
Link | July 27th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Pat Darnell and Friends wrote,
So this is QS = QB = QI? That can only be true if QS = QI… which is what Pribek keeps saying.
Brand violation: Dunkin’ Donuts tries to go healthy
July 30, 2008 · 7 Comments
I disagree with all the emphasis on Brand. It is no universal as you Bruce seem to handle it in here.
Dear Bruce:
Brand is neither the pivot of the argument, or anything new. You can still copy-right your work by simply sending your manuscript to yourself in a sealed envelope through the US Postal Service.
The AIA was shoving it down architects’ throats in the 1970’s.
We live in a built environment of components. It is the supply chain that makes our edifices and fixtures look as they do. Inside and outside, working with brands only means specifications and how they will fit the requirement. A specification can be written long before any product is built and branded…
Sure it’s a FORD, but what comes standard inside? Did you ever hear that question?
Brand really refers to a unique product and process, not legal graffiti. For instance have you seen this tag: “MSN” with “Pentium Processor” and “Intel” inside.” This is a slobbery way of saying “Brand” when it really points to component-ized assembly processes.
How does Intel insure the quality in brand of MSN, visa versa and so on.. It does it by government contracting. Government is not a business and good luck suing them, .gov brands nothing, and they copy-right nothing. This is like a heifer walking onto your property with her yearling, and you run out and brand her and the calf. What have you done?
You covered the other brands and put yours on a “component” of unknown origin. This is faux branding…
The quality code you are trying to impose; is is like hypertext html, or machine language, in your equation? If that is the case then I agree, brand is the thing that floats the boat. Brands are the cosmic glue. Those who have one are lucky, and should remember it has a life and a death, and is the core competency of the enterprise. Oh, yeah, I forget, Music is not my core competency; it’s something else. Yikes!!
Link | August 1st, 2008 at 1:36 am
Pat Darnell and Friends wrote,
I guess we showed you Bruce… eh? You never came back. Let’s see that makes you a brand of… ? boutique buddy??
…Music will not be your primary product; it will be a component of your brand. Imagine your blog filling the screen above. It’s imperative that you build your own brand, or become part of a boutique brand on the Internet….
Link | August 4th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Pat Darnell and Friends wrote,
Okay I get it. It’s a Tablet you build yourself. If I go here I can be in on the construction of this thing that has no keyboard, and is using Firefox and Linux…
PC magazine says: Cheap Firefox Tablet to be built by Bloggers… HERE
Then I go around and …. [crickets in an empty barn]
back up a little: a few $100 bucks buys me –
“..The “Firefox Web Tablet,” as it is tentatively being called, has no time line for production, but Arrington said that an ODM company has told him that it could be manufactured for a few hundred dollars.
… the basic design calls for no keyboard, just a screen based around the Mozilla Firefox Web browser. “They need us to write the software modifications to Linux and Firefox (more on that below) and spec the hardware,” Arrington wrote. “Then they run with it and can have a few prototypes built within a month.”
Comments from PC Mag site are not supportive of this item. I simply fully disagree with the theory: “The TechCrunch Tablet Be The Final Nail In The Music Sales Coffin?”
and summarily conclude there is no pressing story here even before heading over to the — “Cubrilovic promised …post[ed] updates to the blog and launch a separate community site in the next day or so.”
Like it says in the bottom right corner of the picture of the tablet above: “You are Lost.”
bow right;
bow left;
then to audience, pd-in-full watching tropical storm Edouardo at this hour.
Link | August 4th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Pat Darnell and Friends in Low Places wrote,
Steve Jobs Admits He Made a Big Mistake With MobileMe
by Ryan Block, posted Aug 5th 2008 at 9:36AM
(retrieved HERE
Not that anyone could really dance around the facts of the matter at this point, but Ars Technica is reporting that in an e-mail to Apple employees sent yesterday, Steve is alleged to have said the following:
Apple exec Eddie Cue [yeah, that's old fast Eddie Cue] appears to taking the much maligned service under his wing (as well as the App Store, adding to his original gig as VP of iTunes), hopefully making good on the other bit in El Jobso’s e-mail, in which he resets Apple’s call to action on .Mac’s replacement: [they make it sound like some sort of landing on Normandy]
My Opinion: This is further proof from the middle that people from the top down in their magic kingdoms have very little idea what the f**k is going on. I know it and you know it. So, to those who are so inclined, quit bleaching stories from sofa kings of the clueless electronic industry. Eh?
TechCrunch product shown will never even make it to market. This concludes the tall tale of the “nail in the coffin of music brandish story…” of course pending sources verifications!
pat darnell aka moopigwisdom.blogspot.com, lex dos lunck!
Link | August 5th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Bruce Warila wrote,
Pat,
You are just way too smart for me to debate. Honestly. I am up for friendly discussion with the people I meet blogging. Your approach to debate falls outside of my radar. I’ll check out your blog next time I’m stumped trying to figure out how the world works. Thanks for the feedback.
Peace.
Bruce
Link | August 5th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Pat Darnell and Friends wrote,
When we signed in to Pribek.net we agreed to “Earth Sliding, can’t get something started when the truth is gone, Soul Searching…” arbitration and rugby match:
Refer:
_______________
I am kinda’ waiting for the Jerry Springer-arabesques epilogue to the discussion turned soap opera in this posting… by His Royal Heinous Pribek..[hrhp] so? ..I guess we ran out of time on this one. Let’s return to original stuff:
In support of some of my own wittiness and satire, some examples:
Virtual Goat Butt/ Zebra Kick Global Shopping Center — 5 stars
TechCrunch is just another Blogger Marketing Test Element… 3 stars
Reportage — Steve Jobs Memo re: MobileMe to Company.. 3 stars
Falling outside Mr Warila’s radar… 5 stars
I give myself a 16 out of a possible 20 on this one.
Thank you very much,
pd-in-full aka MooPig
Link | August 9th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Pat Darnell and Friends wrote,
More Evidence of a Branding gone B[ruce]ad… because there is no Brand to begin with… duh !!
Oh Boy: email just arrived because I am a subscriber to Zazzle… this is what they do for me!!
BAM !!!! Right there, maybe a total exclusive, Bruce are you listening??? Roundup Time at Valley Ranch…
Pribek, this is a TRIPLE YAHTZEE, for “ReBrand…. yahoo light the fireworks, shave that burnt flesh design off all the heifers…. roundup the bulls… head em up move em out!!!
Please, please award the triple yahtzee, please oh please….? They did this all just for us!!!!!??? COME ON….!!!!
REBRAND = ):K#@)*(%*$^]~ = QB
… thank you Darren… you have defined “Quality Brand” for us who have only had dreams of such revelation……
Link | August 19th, 2008 at 8:13 pm