RCRD LBL: Don’t Buy The Hype

Cayocosta

Seems everybody’s pretty quick to jump the gun in the race for a new-music model lately as each new startup is routinely being touted in the press as the potential savior of the industry - which should also raise the question of how much of this mass speculation is no more than opportunistic hype - with the latest case in point being Rcrd Lbl.

Nothing New

Music-licensing and Internet sites featuring free mp3 downloads subsidized via advertising are nothing new. Rcrd Lbl - besides having possibly the worst name in the history of business - has simply combined the two.

Despite its flamboyant introduction, Rcrd Lbl is not a business specifically designed to make money through advertising while providing free music downloads; instead the company focuses on traditional music-licensing for the bulk of its income and appears to consider advertising revenue as supplementary - for artists will not even participate.

Instead, under this new "model," artists are (reportedly) offered between $500 and $5000 in exchange for the exclusive right of Rcrd Lbl to license a track to third parties (as well as the right to give the track away for free) with the stipulation that upon such licensing, the resulting revenue is split.

(Unfortunately, it remains unclear as to the artist’s share of licensing income, as well as whether or not advances are recoupable, and if Rcrd Lbl rights include the ability to license a track to any advertiser without consent - potentially effecting an endorsement against the artist’s will.)

Record Label?

Nothing appears to have been mentioned regarding this startup actually making records, consequently it’s unlikely this business plan is even a candidate for a limited solution for the troubled recording industry. Josh Deutsch, chairman of Rcrd Lbl admitted as much to the Wall Street Journal when he offered, "I'm not saying Rcrd Lbl is the answer, but it's an answer to [the question of] 'How do you monetize music?' "

Again, monetizing music via licensing is nothing new, and Columbia’s use of Google advertising on it’s website could technically be considered as having beat them to that particular punch. So, what’s the big deal?

Blog Format

Considering Rcrd Lbl boasts as having signed 50 artists to date, the blog format does not appear to have been a good choice, for artist visibility is already limited with only a handful of acts featured on the front page; moreover, there exists a possibility the company’s credibility could be jeopardized should customers decide their blogging represents self-interested propaganda.

P2P

As with any free-music/advertising model, there is nothing preventing tracks from becoming widely distributed via P2P networks, which could result in disappointing advertising revenue via the circumvention, in this case, of the Rcrd Lbl site itself. (Possibly this is the reason they have chosen to place their emphasis on licensing as opposed to advertising; and if so, constitutes further evidence the free-music/advertising concept is weak.)

Summary

Rather than a new-music panacea or record company in the traditional sense, Rcrd Lbl appears to be just a music-licensing marketplace featuring free promotional mp3 downloads of the tracks being offered – a one-stop of sorts whereby organizations can license music for use in television, commercials and film; and for artists in search of such opportunities, a showcase for their work.

Not a bad idea from a purely licensing perspective, and it stands to reason that we could see additional startups (devoid of any record company baggage or blog pretense) emerge based on a similar concept but with a more concentrated focus on improving and/or enhancing the music-licensing experience for both artist and licensee - perhaps partially facilitated via the inclusion of an auction.

With regard to Rcrd Lbl itself, in my opinion their manifestation of the entity as a free-music record label (and blog) compromises the ultimate capability of what is essentially a licensing mechanism (and appears to be no more than an attempt to leverage the current climate of sensationalist anti-label rhetoric surrounding the industry) and as such we may witness their being trumped by a more focused competitor in very short order. Moreover, in that Rcrd Lbl is a sister company to Downtown Records, the specter of nepotism may prove to be a major deterrent for outsiders considering participation, thus further limiting the company’s attractiveness.