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…America On Line became so prominent by sending out CDs of their product via direct mail. Their growth rate quickly exceeded the capacity of their infrastructure, but that problem does not affect the music industry: they have the infrastructure. Why in the world do they not sign more small artists to a one-record deal, with "first-dibs" rights guaranteed to the record companies, for a comparatively small fee to the artist for the first record? They could send out CDs just the way AOL does, except with maybe 20 cuts per CD, of different artists, mailed quarterly? Eighty good artists per year, in your mailbox. If only one catches fire, the record company exercises their "first dibs" option, the artists can't bolt to a different label, and they get signed for a more standard record deal. Anyone who doesn't catch on gets dropped after one CD… at least they got a shot. Would the cost of this positive publicity really be any more than the cost of fighting file sharing? (henry1)
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I think this is an amazing idea. Too bad it will never see the light of day, the record companies will never consider the idea of sending free music directly to consumers. Music clubs already charge people to recieve random music in the mail, which is the same principle as music subscription web sites: charge the consumer to listen to advertisments. The rest of the economy is already moving in the opposite direction and eventually people will earn good money to view ads, and the music industry will be slow to follow suit, as usual.