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Gateway as Content Distributor?
crovira writes "CNet has an article about Gateway testing the waters of the music business and using their retail stores as music outlets." crovira excerpts: "So far, Gateway executives have not specified exact plans that the company will pursue, but they have indicated that it could position itself as a conduit for content from established and new artists. Turner also indicated that Gateway is contemplating bypassing the titans of the music industry if necessary. 'We have retail stores that aren't beholden to the music industry,' Turner said. 'There are a lot of artists out there.'" Makes one wonder if the xxAAs will roll-over and take their tithe or if they'll try to find some anti-competitive legal maneuvering leverage to keep Gateway out? And can Apple be far behind with video services out of their own retail outlets?"
...given the image of the company, is it all going to be pirated barnyard music?
-- We live in a world where lemonade is artificial and soap has real lemon.
- Listen to music geared toward the Lowest Common Denominator
- on a machine geared toward the Lowest Common Denominator.
Neat."What is the sound of one belly slapping?"
Maybe since Gateway is in the tech business, not the record business, they will be able to come up with the business model that can make money for themselves and [their?] artists with new technology.
Error: Success
the great thing is Gateway has enough clout to pull this off. And the more holes Gateway puts in the wall the more cracks smaller guys can squeese through.
If I were only smart enough to accomplish the things I dream about.. Or maybe too dumb to care.
They had a short bit about this on the show CNN Next. Included were interviews with the president of the RIAA, she was not happy at all. Basically said that Gateway was supporting piracy. Lol, what will they think of next?
i'd much rather have good pirated music, than crappy legal music..... granted people have different tastes in music, but in all seriousness, some musicians just aren't talented, i guess it's really a moot point being as i have 30 gigs of mp3s....
--fetch daddy's blue fright wig, i must be handsome when i release my rage
Bet then perhaps we'd see a rise in people getting computers from little companies no one has ever heard of.
...until RIAA sends Guido over to bust Michael Dell's kneecaps. And if that doesn't convince him to back off, I'm sure the thugs will think of more... creative ways to persuade him. Pain is such a wonderful negotiating tool.
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
I'm not trying to say that Gateway is some sort of Utopian selfless corporation or anything, but I just have to cheer when I see big-name companies taking on the big bullies.
Ted Waitt's brother Norm started Samson Music back in 1997. They signed a bunch of new artists, but then dropped them, changed their name to Gold Circle Records and signed a bunch of 80's leftovers.
"How perfectly Goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" Charles Crumb
It is hard to see how they could really succeed here. Would they sell CD's? Or would they simply allow MP3 downloads? Or would they do it all online with some Napster-like service?
I'm all for a totally new music distribution system (and who isn't? except for the record companies). The article is a bit light on details. Hopefully there will be more information soon.
Hey maybe one day, you will be able to call up and order you PC and have it shipped to you preloaded with your favorite MP3s!!!
-- -- Warning. Do not stare directly at the sun.
Has a COW over this!
This and the news of their plan to use the cow against the RIAA makes it appear to me that they are gravitating toward and image change to set them apart from the other computer makers. This sort of "anti-establishment" plan could be an attempt to get the attention of all those millions of pirateers the RIAA is so afraid of. Grabbing just a portion of that market would be a signifigant win for Gateway with its recent lackluster business.
It all makes me wonder how long it will be until Gateway sheds it's cowspots in favor of eye patches and parrots. But seriously, I wonder if we will see them installing Kazaa or Morpheus by default before too long.
I don't see how they're doing anything that exposes them to a lawsuit. From what I read of the article, they're only distributing music that they can legally distribute. It sounds like they're essentially a more commercialized version of mp3.com's regular service (not to be confused with the lawsuit-ridden BeamIT service).
I suspect many artists will use this system as a way to promote their work without giving up all of their work. They could create a few freely distributable singles and allow those to help drive album sales. It would be similar in nature to one of the big pro-P2P arguments (exposure to artists/sample before you buy), but it would be done with the full consent of the copyright holder and it wouldn't necessarily result in the entire album being available.
I bet they are now Rosen's new poster child for the evil empire...
...we are from the government - we are here to help...
IIRC, Apple are legally unable to sell music due to a deal with Apple Music (of Beatles fame) way back when. Not sure if this still applies. IANAL
They have some funky rules about fair use. But that doesn't mean they are beholden. It means they got whacked a few years ago: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/primary/cases/c758FSup p1522.html (wrapped url, take out the space)
Why don't the big companies like McDonalds, Wal Mart, etc, etc realize the potential of developing their own Free music label? This would be GREAT advertising on their part. For example, Wal Mart or whoever could release songs in a digital format for Free. Perhaps they could release a special player that would not allow anyone to "share" the song until a specified date. In this respect, people would have to come into the store for downloading the new releases. I'd do this... and hell, I would definitely buy whatever I could along the way.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
Apple Records sued Apple Inc. in 1989 over a secret agreement the two had in 1981. Apple Records allowed Apple Inc. to keep their nifty little apple logo as long as they stayed out of the music industry. This came up again recently with the release of the iPod, although I don't know the outcome of the suit.
With a $3.5 billion drop in net sales in FY2001, and with a stock price under $7 a share, not to mention an increasingly competitive marketplace for OEMs, dontcha think Gateway ought to be focusing on consolidating their business instead of trying wacky new ventures?
"Folks just call him Buckethead." -- Les Claypool
When my parents got a computer a few years ago from Gateway, they got their ISP service from Gateway.net . It was truly awful. The folks at Gateway obviously didn't have a clue as to how to run an ISP, but were just trying to jump on the internet bandwagon. Now my father is on Earthlink, and my mother on AOL, and Gateway.net has apparently become part of CompuServe.
I have a feeling that this is another attempt by Gateway to experiment with the latest trendy thing. They should just stick with what they know.
The big players in the music industry don't have a monopoly on talent. Just look at the crap-slingers on the Billboard Top 40, and tell me nobody else has this type of "star power", and I won't listen to you anymore, because it would waste my precious time.
Now Gateway comes along, trying to salvage getting its butt whooped by Dell in the home pc market, thinking it can capitalize on this fact.
Here's the problem, if you want to make stars (like the music industry most certainly does), than you need to get them exposure. The web isn't bad for distribution, but promotion is tough. The simple reason is there is just too much out there for people to focus in on a group or two and make superstars out of them. In the music business, people are spoon-fed the next big thing; they make a selection from a limited pool of applicants.
Now, if the music industry tells the radio conglomerates not to air artist so-and-so, you can bet your arse you won't be hearing them. If Bobby and Sally Teen USA don't see your awesome band on MTV, then they could only ever be "a great underground band". To Gateway's dismay, great underground bands don't usually make top dollar like the industry puppets do [save your counter-examples, I speak in the general sense].
So, the music industry can easily prevent Gateway from impinging on their turf by leveraging their might concerning radio and television against Gateway. Without these conduits of distribution, Gateway's plan is more hype than hope, I'm afraid.
To quote the article:
And can Apple be far behind with video services out of their own retail outlets?
I think anyone who follows Apple knows about the whole Apple Records thing...
But, last I checked, Apple Records didn't have a problem with them distributing video content.
They have already set precedent, because...
We've got QuickTime and all of those related products...
And, we've got Apple Distributing Movie Trailers on their web site...
If they were going to persue Apple on the video front, I'ld figure it would have already been done.
self-aggrandizement
I wonder if the "hidden" message here is that Gateway sees PC sales to continue to be weak and they are desperately looking to do something with all of those retail outlets ...
It says something about their view of the PC business that rolling the dice on some wildly speculative entertainment industry venture seems attractive.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
they are the same as the RIAA/MPAA they just don't have the $$ yet to buy the political muscle. Look at their PC agreements. Open the box void the warranty, it MUST be serviced at Gateway.
I would not buy a computer from them what makes you think I'd buy music from them ? Just because someone is competing with the Music Behemoths does not make them our friend, probably the exact opposite.
Stand up for yourselves, you are NOT consumers, you are CUSTOMERS, and need to be treated with some respect.
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
The xxAA's onky exist because of inertia. And they are the heaviest contributors to this inertia.
They have fought (and lost) against EVERY technological device since the invention of the player piano. They have NEVER won. Not even ONCE.
And the people who were supposed to benefit from this went around them and founded entire industries around the products that were supposed to bring doom and desolation to the industries they were alleging to protect.
The industries who need protection need protection from the xxAAs not the technology. That technology has in EVERY case turned into a profit center for somebody in the industry.
I suspect that the fight will now be brought back home to the xxAAs since they have NEVER won a case but instead have stood at every turn between people and profits.
The xxAAs are about as useful as a dose of clap and about as pleasant. Cover Jack Valente with Piperazine and he'd wither away like a slug covered with salt.
The xxAAs put music and ads in elevators. But its such an abomination that its called "Muzak." Muzak is to music as a can of dog food is to a steak.
Some people prefer chicken. FINE... But THEY get to make the choice of their meal.
Most music is of the Muzak variety. If bought by people who don't like it and don't listen to it but have been sold on structured noise as a background. Its part of an architectural motif on par with the plastic chairs in airport lounges and its about as comfortable to be around.
Personally, I prefer silence. And its FREE!
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Ahh content, the last resort of the doomed hardware manufacturer.
The Internet is generally stupid
That's not nice. You should apologise.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
Second, we have FuckedCompany. With all the casualties in the online music space, Gateway better have one hell of a secret weapon. Great customer service and brick-and-mortar stores full of low-tech heads-of-households looking to invest in a computer will not help them sell records.
Gateway is a crumbling company. A look at recent news shows that they are clearly in a state of panic. Last I remember reading was that they were closing European operations and trying to get into IT consulting. I repeat: state of panic.
In the wisest of possible strategies, this music ploy is just a publicity stunt to earn credibility with "all those crazy kids." In their more probable strategy, it is simply bad management making a poor investment outside of their core competencies.
On a positive note, any money they throw at this project will be applied to a full frontal attack of the entertainment media establishment (xxAA's), which in a moral sense may be an ideal use of funds. In an economic sense, it is a waste of precious resources.
Yeah, good for Wal-Mart, bad for just about everyone else. The thought of Wal-Mart running their own music label is truly frightening. They would institute a brand of censorship over their artists...the likes of which the world has never seen.
No, Wal-Mart should stick to selling shotguns and fishing rods.
In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris will still kick your ass.
If Gateway were to distribute music online the question is whose? The major labels aren't going to license their hoard to Gateway. The artists might, but most of the major names are tied by exclusive contract to their label. So Gateway is going to release music by unknowns? Without some major artists providing music the idea would be doomed.
These guys are burning bridges with the zeal of a pyromaniac. First they Actually had the stones to go public about Micro$oft's policies towards OEM's. Now they're basically toilet papering the RIAA's front yard. I'm no Gateway supporter. Like mentioned in an earlier post, they cater to the lowest common denominator. But I haven't seen Dell or Compact saying anything publicly about the way MS bullies the OEM's. Maybe they'll start doing commercials that show the Gateway cow taking a dump on the Dell-dudes front yard (Dude, what's that smell?!) or commercials having some fun with the internal pissing match at Compaq/HP. If these guys want to have even a chance of surviving past this year, they need to be socking the other companies in right in the chops every time they get a chance, because I don't know of too many success stories providing content like they're planning to.
Let's say a customer lives near a Gateway Country Store, and doesn't have broadband Internet access. Said customer could use MP3.com to mix-and-match an album, then pick an option to have it burned to CD at the Gateway store. Assuming that each Gateway store has a pipe with halfway-decent bandwidth, and assuming that some of their demo models have CD burners, the disk can be waiting for the customer by the time they drive to the store.
If Gateway allows users to surf to the site from the stores' demo machines, then Gateway can even generate impulse-driven sales. The "netCDs" at MP3.com are $4-6 each, Gateway would buy blank CD-R in bulk (less than $1 per), toss in one dollar for bandwidth/employees/profits, and Gateway can charge $6-8 per CD, undercutting MP3.com (because there's no shipping) and RIAA (because their not evil, price-gouging control freaks).
What do you think?
They have plenty of other choices. There are literally thousands of labels out there. There is no reason an artist has to sign with the five biggest labels. The most common reason is that they're greedy, and signing with the absolute biggest labels in the industry is the quickest way to try to get rich.
If they'd be willing to settle for something less than "get rich quick" they could sign to any number of medium-sized labels.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
I honestly have no clue what Norway's legal system is like. However, DeCSS did (arguably) have a use in violating copyright/copy protection. Regardless of whether or not DeCSS was generally legitimate in nature, the MPAA could at least argue that it assisted in piracy.
In this case, however, there's nothing for them to bring a case with. As long as Gateway is getting permission from the copyright holders, they're in the clear. As I said before, it sounds just like what mp3.com is doing. A quick check at mp3.com's weekly top 40 shows that they're carrying a number of "regular", commercial artists (Sheryl Crow, Linkin Park, Alanis Morissette, Natalie Imbruglia, Enya, ...). And as far as I know, mp3.com hasn't been sued over this
portion of their service.
(Yes, mp3.com was sued in the past over its BeamIT system. The system did a decent job of confirming that a person owned a given CD, but it was still streaming songs from albums that mp3.com had not obtained permission from the copyright holders to "broadcast". Even though they were acting to minimize piracy, they were still arguably violating copyright laws. So that issue isn't exactly relevant here.)
Do remember that Gateway is a company that at least used to have a license that said installing Linux voided the warranty.
Don't assume that because they go against other companies that they will do so in a way that benefits you (or customers in general). They may. But you sure can't count on it.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
Fry's Electronics sells audio and video content, but more as a traffic builder to get people into the store than as a major money-maker. Gateway may be thinking in that direction.
Gateway's sundown ad is great. Where can I find the Whip It ad that the articles keep mentioning?
The shareholder is always right.
I don't have many feelings (positive or negative) for Gateway's products, but I must say I've been rather impressed with Gateway's rebellion against some big players.
...) have been very effective, and flushed with this victory they became refractory, and tried to finish "conquering the virtual world" with legally-mandated hardware misfeatures that would totally destroy the hardware market and licencing requirements that would totally destroy webcasting.
The RIAA/MPAA picked this fight: by trying to shut down computer-based content distribution. This hits the market for tech big-time, and Gateway's products are dead-center on ground zero.
Which makes their reaction no less impressive. Unlike (or at least ahead of) everyone else in the industry, they recognized it. And they are now staging a big-time counter-offensive, with style and effectiveness.
Computer-based content distribution IS the next thing, both for computers and for content. Rahter than accommodating it the RIAA/MPAA have declared war on it, in the courts and the legislature. Their blitzkrieg-style first strikes (media taxes, Napster takedown, DCMA,
If the hardware sellers don't want their future destroyed they MUST now either bring the RIAA/MPAA to heel or break their monopoly on content and content-licencing terms. Given their orgin in organized crime and their recent success with intimidation, it's unlikely they'll domesticate gracefully.
Gateway has recognized this, and taken on the battle with guts and style. Kudos to them.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
MGM had the roaring lion in the logo. Then MTM (Mary Tyler Moore) did the takeoff with the pussycat. Now Gateway with the cow...
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
You miss-spelled "make their time"
Rich
Here's the problem, if you want to make stars (like the music industry most certainly does), than you need to get them exposure. The web isn't bad for distribution, but promotion is tough.
Now, if the music industry tells the radio conglomerates not to air artist so-and-so, you can bet your arse you won't be hearing them. If Bobby and Sally Teen USA don't see your awesome band on MTV, then they could only ever be "a great underground band".
That's the way it WAS.
But we're on the Internet now.
The Mainstream Media is getting CREAMED by the Internet, in one venue after another: news, content, and and exposure to name just three.
To paraphraise the way my wife puts it:
"Word of Mouth" takes on a whole new meaning when you can get on your computer and recommend an artist you like to "a couple million of your closest friends".
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Mainstream Media is getting CREAMED by the Internet
In terms of people looking for *free* music. Gateway aims to make money though.
In their more probable strategy, it is simply bad management making a poor investment outside of their core competencies.
I think you are giving them more credit than is due. I don't think Gateway even has a core competency.
Lies about crimes
Epitaph (Bad Religion, NOFX, Rancid), Metropolis (KMFDM, VNV Nation, Front Line Assembly, Apoptygma Berzerk), Nitro (TSOL, The Vandals, AFI until recently), etc. Many of the "heavyweights" of the both the punk rock and industrial/synth genres aren't affiliated with the "big five" (and in fact Metropolis is the single biggest US label for EBM/synth/goth/etc. and it's independent). I'm not very familiar with other genres, but I'd imagine these aren't the only two...
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Remember when you went into Best Buy and saw that they started putting up their stupid magazine rack that had a lot of titles that had nothing to do with computers and stereo stuff? I smelled death. My sister is in the book selling business. She tells me how cutthroat magazines are. Magazines in Best Buy are very similar to Gateway tryng to make albums.
See, in a retail sense, magazines racks are the first hallmark of death. Magazines are cheap, high volume, and handled by "rack-jobbers" out of house. When you put in shelf space for primarily someone else's profits? Well then, you are in trouble. Gateway getting into music? It is a magazine rack to them... a quick buck.
It smells like Enron when Gateway wants to get into music. Enron was into the whole elctricity and gas business (which you can always make a buck in when you have the price regulators in your back pocket) then they decided that utility profits weren't good enough. Then they started screwing their core business because they put it all in risky stock crap in a market that was paying out like a casino. When it didn't pay out, then they started screwing people over, big time.
Apparently Gateway is trying to diversify... but the truth of the matter is that it stinks of death all over it. Smells like a magazine rack.
If they are doing this to tag some artist to get someone in a Gateway Country store or promote proprietary Gateway stuff, well, look out. That business model makes no sense. Besides, record producers wait years at a time for a hit. How much patience do you think a product producing company has about profits? ABOUT THREE MONTHS until the quarterly statements are due, then they pull the project because it didn't pan out in three months.
I would be scared. Heads might roll any day now.