DISQUS

VentureBeat: TrueAnthem raises $2 million to pollute music with pre-song ads

  • aandarian · 1 year ago
    this is terrible. Ask any marketer or psychologist, from a consumer standpoint this is nonsense.
  • fabulous · 1 year ago
    If a consumer is 15 years old it makes lots of sense!

    If a consumer wants music for free but is unwilling to steal it makes fantastic sense!
  • fabulous · 1 year ago
    As a musician myself I can see why musicians would love trueAnthem.

    How did we get to a place where fans, who supposedly adore musicians, feel just fine stealing their music?

    If everyone feels okay about stealing from musicians then trueAnthem might just be 100% right-on about where the future is heading…

    How long before YouTube videos all play a commercial before starting? Think about it.
  • Ryan · 1 year ago
    What they need to do is force you to solve a math problem every time. It can be like a human powered Folding@Home network.
  • Universal Indie Records · 1 year ago
    I disagree. I don't find it that obtrusive and I feel that many of today's youth who the service is squarely aimed at will not either. It's a small price to pay to get music that you're interested in. Realize also that there will also be those who will utilize and audio editor to remove the ads from the song.

    Your argument about the ads not being able to be clicked is kind of flacid as well. You can't click on a television or radio commercial either that doesn't mean that it's not effective. Just because this is new media doesn't mean that you have to throw all old media sensibilities away on everything.
  • Dan Kaplan · 1 year ago
    Listening to an ad before every single track is an awful experience. For one thing, it compromises the in-the-moment enjoyment that people look for when they listen to music. For another, it feels tacky. It also gets maddeningly repetitive.

    More importantly, when it's no trouble at all to find tons of free music that doesn't require you to pay a "small price" every time you hear it, what do you think people will do? And I'd be willing to bet that the percentage of people who are willing and able to use an audio editor to not pay this "small price," is below 1%.

    As to your point about the flaccidity of my point about clicks: take a quick look at the trends that are shaping the advertising industry right now: The money is moving online and fast. The major reasons? A. It seems to work better. B. It offers clearly measurable metrics.

    Radio commercials effective? Not the last time I checked.
  • Universal Indie Records · 1 year ago
    "this is terrible. Ask any marketer or psychologist, from a consumer standpoint this is nonsense."

    See this is the type of thinking that has the music industry in trouble. The marketers and the psychologists are not the people illegally downloading music. Sure to an older generation this would be horrible... but again, it's NOT FOR YOU.

    Why is that so hard to comprehend? Today's youth have more information tossed at them than ever and their attention spans are much shorter because of it. It's not such a bad way to get the actually listen to ads.
  • Dan Kaplan · 1 year ago
    Actually, the thinking that has the music industry in trouble emerged when it thought it could put the reigns on an emerging technology and that the best way to do this was to sue teenagers and college kids.

    Trying to suppress technology is a loser's game, especially in an information economy. The music industry got into trouble because the economics changed and rendered its standard models obsolete.

    It's not understanding this fact that keeps it in trouble.
  • gigdoggy · 1 year ago
    I think you need to test this service just 10 minutes to realize that the ads are not intrusive, and you get used to them after listening to only 2 songs - the fact that the advertisement is a simple "brought to you by [insert company]", and that it is presented by the artist himself, doesn't come off as annoying: it's as if the artist was presenting his next song on the radio.
    I find it's a great compromise, and although you say that there are lots of other places to find streaming music, i think what internet does is bring fans and bands closer: as they do, fans will realize that listening to a 3-second spot is a small price to pay to support the bands that they are discovering.
  • J.Farley · 1 year ago
    There's commercials on TV... I don't hate the TV shows that follow them.... stop whining for 2 minutes, and download an audio-editing app (like Audacity) for free, and lop-off the ads if they bother you so much.

    TV producers and writers make money from advertising... no reason creative songwriters need to be 'above' making money. Last time I checked... the record-selling business was in the toilet. I prefer my favorite bands to not be homeless, or working at Starbucks. Its simple... Pay them, they'll continue making art.
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