22 Music Week 10.08.12 VIEWPOINT TUNETRIBE
‘LABELS SHOULD FOCUS ON WHAT THEY’RE GOOD AT’
A digital retailer’s view of why record companies in the UK should beware “short-term madness”
RETAIL BY WILLIAM HAIGHTON, CEO, TUNETRIBE
I
t has been just over 10 years since the commercial launch of digital downloads and it has been tough for digital music retailers. If we look back to the mid-1980’s publishers,
retailers and consumers all embraced the new compact disc format – it’s fair to say they have been less enthusiastic about digital music. As a company specializing in selling legal music
we have been faced with numerous challenges, not least: disaffected consumers, the dominance of i- Tunes and the government’s continued inability to get to grips with copyright infringement. But the future is definitely looking brighter. In
recent times there really does seem to be a noticeable change for the better in the relationship between the music industry and its consumers. Recently released figures show a marked increase
in the number of digital music sales and our company has certainly seen an upturn in business
“Labels: if you want to help us sell your music to a growing audience, start talking to us about how we can work together better to come up with creative, engaging, exciting campaigns.”
this year. It seems that music lovers are finally beginning to embrace paid for downloads. There is, however, much work still to be done to
nurture these fragile seedlings of good news. The industry as a whole needs to realise that the
way retail works has evolved and as a retailer I feel I am well placed to offer a view on the direction the industry, particularly record labels, should be going in during this time of turbulence. It may sound obvious but in my opinion
labels should be concentrating on their key strengths – A&R (both discovering new talent and maximizing existing back catalogue) and marketing - specifically third party marketing in partnership with online retailers, mobile phone companies, and consumer brands. In other words labels really need to go back to
basics but work smarter and with more awareness of the changing marketplace.
Retailers like us aren’t asking for sympathy, we
just want content owners to understand the reality of where we are at this point in time. There is a huge disconnect with the consumer and together we need to figure out how to fix it. Trying to winkle ever more prohibitive advances
out of retailers, brands and other 3rd parties, for example, is short-term madness, a strategy doomed to failure. If retailers go out of business because our margins are squeezed beyond endurance that’s another route to market closed – surely that’s obvious isn’t it? The key is for labels to focus on what they’re
good at. A label is primarily a home for the artist where he or she can find guidance, support and experience. The consumer, however, is not simply interested in what goes on behind the scenes. All they want is readily available content; easy,
quick, now and affordable. They want to make their own choices based on taste, mood, budget and availability. Frankly, any discussion about CD’s being replaced
by downloads and downloads being replaced by streaming is completely irrelevant to the consumer. They simply want to visit a reliable entertainment
supermarket and leave with an LP, a CD, a deluxe/premium version, a download or a stream. As retailers we really need content owners,
especially the major labels, to increase their support of the work we do taking their music to market. Our margins are already small and getting smaller and we need all the help we can get to create compelling
ABOVE Shop in the name of love | Tunetribe’s Haighton encourages labels to think about online stores as ‘shop windows’ just as much as the High Street
retail propositions for music fans. Again, we don’t want pity we want practical assistance. Before the digital revolution labels used to fall
over themselves to support high street retailers. Price promotions, marketing investment, and point of sale materials - these were just some of things labels used to give retailers to help them sell more of their records. The relationship between label and retailer was a
symbiotic and mutually beneficial one. We seem to have lost the essence of that relationship and, frankly, its time to get it back. So come on labels - if you want us to help sell
your music to a growing audience of music fans who have a genuine desire to buy legal digital music, start talking to us about how we can work together better to come up with creative, engaging campaigns that will excite consumers and drive more sales. Your shop window is not only on the High
Street, it is online to millions of potential consumers. The high street retailer is, sadly, disappearing but there is potentially a much bigger, more effective retail reach in cyberspace. So come and hang your posters in our online shop window! Let’s look to create premium offerings for fans,
let’s partner on some marketing initiatives and let’s start having a dialogue about how, together, we can keep the momentum we now have going. A vibrant, competitive digital music retail sector
supported by motivated, engaged labels can only be a good thing, can’t it?
www.musicweek.com
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