Ad Supported Mixtapes: A New Media Model for Music
by Markus Robinson
I read a great write up on Venture Capitalist Fred Wilson’s AVC.com about the release of Lupe Fiasco’s new mixtape, Enemy of the State. I know you’re asking, why would a VC blog about a mixtape? Well unlike most mixtapes, Lupe’s new album included a brief 31 second Hewlett Packard commercial entitled “HP skit”. The commercial, I’ve included the video version below, is one of those headless voice over commercial with cool animations that HP has become known for as of late. Now without knowing, the particulars of the compensation agreement between Lupe and HP, Wilson goes on to speculate about what an advertising based model could mean for an artist and advertisers:
So Lupe included an HP advertisement on the Enemy Of The State mixtape. Let’s say Enemy of the State is downloaded a half million times. And let’s say that the average downloader listens to the mixtape all the way through five times. Then that HP ad would be listened to 2.5 million times. At a $10 cpm (high but not crazy high), that would be worth $25,000 as an audio ad buy. If Lupe could put out one of these mixtapes a month, then that’s $300,000 per year.
A win win for both advertisers and the artist if you ask me. The advertisers win because instead of hoping a Lupe fan watches the HP commercial, you’re placing the commercial in an album that Lupe’s fans are sure to listen too. This will lead to a better brand engagement. Lupe wins because he gains awareness, spreads new material that could potentially draw more fans to his show, and oh yeah he gets a little change in the process. So if having to suffer through a few ads means that my favorite artists releases more material, then I wont mind suffering through a few commericals.
Now of course this model is not without its faults. The first one that comes to mind is, the stiffiling of creativity. If you think about it, the mixtape market has in the past been known as the place for creativity and innovation. Artist used mixtapes to experiment with new styles and discuss content that they would not normally release on their album. If the artist’s goal is to align themselves with a major brand, the artist might soften up their content, or stick to their traditional musical roots in order to align themselves with a “good brand” (this could be good or bad depending on what side of the fence you’re on.).
So the question is, would you mind a few ads in your favorite artist’s mixtape if it meant more music? Do you think brands can align with mixtapes?
Category: Celeb 2.0, Featured | Tags: ad support, lupe, lupe fiasco, mixtapes, New MediaDid you like this article? Share It!
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Michael JB says:
i would like to see the model where artists stay on that edgy side…and the advertisers join them. i'm sure there are ads out there that get shot down from mainstream TV/radio/etc because they might be considered risque for the market. if businesses want to go underground i say let 'em…just don't water down the medium!
LaSean Smith says:
To pull this off they need to land the right UX. Otherwise there's little incentive to listen in the browser vs. downloading a zip file of the MP3s.
Rahsheen says:
Very interesting. I'm with MichaelJB on this, though and I guess this point also follows from LaSean as well. Artists drop brand names all the time and don't get paid for it. I think it would be simple to integrate a brand/ad into a song without watering it down. Make it part of the art, not something fans are looking to skip or ignore.
Of course, the artist would be walking a fine line between a little marketing to further their craft and a bunch of spammy crap, but I think it's possible.
SethP says:
New Media? Who remembers Doo Wop's ad for Full Court back on 95 Live Pt. 1?
http://usershare.net/glj9owrsgat8
markusrobinson says:
I agree, spammy is a no go. But keep in mind, that we have all now become accustom to getting what we want, when we want it, and for free. Whether it's ad supported or pirated. And since the Nine Inch Nails donation idea didn't work so well, ads just seem to be the necessary next step.
Jeremy Cee says:
Wouldn't this completely lay waste the entire idea of mixtapes and get artists into a DJ Drama situation? You can't benefit commercially from someone else's beats. Selling ads against music that you don't have ALL the rights to, completely violates that.
I obviously don't know the copyright terms for every track that Lupe's including, he very well may have all “cleared” material from his circle of friends. However, you could have Lil Wayne DESTROYING the D.O.A. track and selling ads against it anymore than he can just go out and sell a CD at retail with that new version.
Am I wrong?
Jeremy Cee says:
SHIT … COULDN'T have Lil Wayne … didn't mean to type “could have”
markusrobinson says:
Great point Jeremy. I'm not sure if advertising on a mixtape is equivalent, to the out right selling of mixtapes. I like you, would assume so. But I wonder if producers could benefit from this method too. Maybe the producers of Wayne's mixtape, could somehow share in the revenue or maybe being associated with Wayne's mixtape success could raise the producer's stock.
MissMikelah says:
So many artist mention products in songs, they should get paid for it. Too many artist promote products in their songs and what do they get…more free products. Good model, but like Jeremy said, may run into copyright problems.
LaSean Smith says:
You could treat it like an Internet radio stream (i.e. Pandora) and pay the original artist/label + publisher. That keeps it legal and no pre-negotiations would have to take place with the copyright owners (PA and SR) since there is already a compulsory license in place for this format.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_license
LaSean Smith says:
You could treat it like an Internet radio stream (i.e. Pandora) and pay the original artist/label + publisher. That keeps it legal and no pre-negotiations would have to take place with the copyright owners (PA and SR) since there is already a compulsory license in place for this format.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_license
Wm_Tucker says:
I experimented with ad-supported CDs a couple of years ago. Basically, the artist has to adhere to a strict budget to make it work — something that's not often compatible with the creation process. The other reality is the record label's business model has to switch from a retail, B2C strategy to B2B, similar to terrestrial radio & TV. The implications is you'd have to provide the content free to consumers.
The Sniffer » Blog Archive » Trends: Social Media for the Big Guys; says:
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