Wired: 3 Major Record Labels Join the 'Choruss': Jim Griffin brings Music Like Water in 2009?

One of Wired's sharpest minds, Eliot van Buskirk, reports Three Major Record Labels Join the 'Choruss'.

"U.S. universities are getting a glimpse at a plan that would build a small music-royalty fee into the tuition payments they receive from students. If successful, the model — proposed by digital music strategist Jim Griffin on behalf of Warner Music Group — could be expanded to make ISPs the collector of such micropayments, eliminating some of the most irksome and contentious issues dividing the music industry and its customers...Many experts believe the original Napster represented a major opportunity for the labels to monetize file sharing in a manner similar to the way performance royalties are collected from restaurants or radio stations and avoid further alienating their customers by hauling them into court..."

I am, of course, delighted to hear that this is happening, not just because Jim Griffin (now working at WMG) is an old friend and fellow digital music industry catalyst, but also because this kind of a deal - even though it is still very early and a 'covenant not to sue' is not the same thing as a real, voluntary or even compulsory blanket license - can really show the way towards solving the 'problem' of what those pesky digital natives want as far as their music consumption (better: engagement) is concerned.

If anyone can do this, and work with both the major labels and the students / fans and universities, it will be Jim Griffin!  Naturally, the Net is now buzzing with comments such as 'this is a music tax' and other, similar misunderstandings, so I hope to be able to join this debate in the next few weeks.

A similar discussion will happen at MIDEM, one of the leading music industry conferences, in Cannes / France (January 17-21), and I will be presenting on this topic during the annual MidemNet event (details here, Midemnet blog here). My Music 2.0 slideshow, below, is embedded again, for your perusal and download  - but please talk back, or tweet something. 

Techdirt's Mike Masnick has a comment on this topic, here, btw, saying that this conversation should be public - I like that idea, as well (but realize where the problem with that lies, too ;)

One more snippet from Wired which is important:

"A Wired.com poll showed that approximately 70 percent of readers would pay $10/month for legal access to all of the music on the internet, and we understand that Choruss would call for a significantly lower fees than that. Its detractors might be underestimating the consumer appeal of an inexpensive, unlimited and unrestricted music network"

Now, juxtapose this with an interesting stat from eMarketer, below and ... thinking cap on!

Music 2.0: a web native Music Industry, by Gerd Leonhard

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: riaa flat rate)

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