Latitude

Kachingle is a voluntary, micropayment system mashed up with the usability & personalization of Digg. It’s designed to easily & equitably share each users’ $5 monthly contribution amongst personally designated Web sites–the effect is “crowdfunding sites you love.” We take a look at Kachingle’s business model, & what widespread adoption of models like this could mean for users & digital content providers.

The Beatlesian éclat of iTunes, alongside social & recommendation apps, have galvanized the single track purchase. Radiohead is happy to produce morsels of music over endurance pieces, hoping that limited availability may encourage better promotion of fewer tracks by fans–& listening, really listening to music. Monetization models, tailored specifically to “the single market” (i.e. dynamic pricing) are, fittingly, rising up to meet fans’ buying habits.

Reznor suggests some critical features for a successful music marketing & distribution model. Examining the existing implementations for mobile music streaming, & considering Reznor’s angle, one can project what the next ideal iteration of features might entail, as well as broader implications for media access, ownership & sharing.

Trent Reznor denounced Radiohead’s successful pay-what-you-want marketing model for the In Rainbows album as “insincere” and “low quality.” He gets the tri-faceted “rubric of accessibility,” when it comes to desirability in the digital age–”ease of use, continuous availability, and low price.” So what’s his hang-up?

More artists are producing their work independently, & there’s a kind of generative laissez-faireism fizzling through the music industry… The best notions about emergent business models would seem to come from artists who are now monetizing their own creations– a brand of ultra-motivated lead users.