The End Of Free?

As Web use exploded at the end of the 20th century, the most often-cited business strategy for dot-com startups was “free.”

That is, “free” as in free content, free music, free video. “Free” drove the Web back in the day when industry watchers predicted an advertising-based business plan would foot the bill for a content-rich Internet environment.

The “free” battle was especially popular among newspapers. Publications that regularly sold their content to readers rushed to put the same material up on their Web sites at no charge, thinking online ads would rake in the dollars.

But it didn’t turn out that way, did it? Traditional newspapers, already hurting from losing their lucrative classified advertising revenues to sites such as Craigslist, never achieved the income pinnacles reached by publications in the pre-Web days. And papers that enjoyed a monopoly in their own markets found themselves competing for eyeballs with everybody and anybody on the Web.

As newspapers attempt to figure out how print journalism can survive in the Web-crazy 21st century, the New York Times thinks it may have found an answer. If you want to read the paper online, you’ll have to pay for it.

Rumors that the Times would begin charging for its online content began last year. However, it wasn’t so much a question as to when The Gray Lady would demand payment for its news but which model it would eventually adopt.

Would the paper put everything behind a subscription wall, or would it divvy up everything into free and pay content – à la the Wall Street Journal – in hopes of attracting paying customers? Or would it adopt a “metering” system where readers are given free access to a few stories, but would be charged if they wanted to access more content?

It appears the Times is going the metered route. Beginning in early 2011 the paper will allow readers access to a limited number of stories. However, if they want total access to NYTimes.com, they’ll have to cough up the bucks.

This isn’t the first time the Times has charged for online content. It tried charging for content in 1996 but only about 4,000 people decided it was worth paying for.

The newspaper was a bit more successful when it put its op-ed columnists, including Maureen Dowd, Thomas Friedman and Paul Krugman, behind a subscription wall. Called “Times Select,” approximately 221,000 readers decided it was worth the $50 subscription fee, but the package was canceled in 2007 because it conflicted with advertising sales.

So far, the Times hasn’t revealed how much it will charge for total access, nor has it said how many free reads visitors to the paper’s Web site will receive before having to subscribe. But when one of the most popular newspapers in America starts charging for its online content, expect others to follow.

Others like Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which owns several popular newspapers, including the New York Post and London’s The Times and The Sun. News Corp. also owns the Wall Street Journal, but the paper had been charging for online access long before Murdoch and company acquired it in 2007.

It’s no secret that Murdoch isn’t all that keen on giving content away. He’s publicly lambasted Google, claiming the search company makes money from pointing users to his publications but doesn’t share any revenue with News Corp.

The New York Times’ pay plan allows Google and other search engines to index the newspaper’s site, but doesn’t allow deep links to content. For News Corp. and other publishing companies this could be a win-win situation as search engines direct potential customers to sites where they’ll be charged for reading what they’re already searching for.

But the Times’ new plan isn’t limited to charging people for reading its online content on computer screens. The newspaper plans to charge for access to read its paper via other platforms as well, such as mobile phones.

The Times changing its online business model may be another indication that the free ride is over. Music, TV shows, YouTube clips and just about everything available for free on the Web might someday demand a price.

However, ultimately it will be the public deciding which content is worth paying for and which isn’t worth the time of day. That is, unless it’s free.

Rock Band Network

“Rock Band” developer Harmonix has opened the popular gaming platform to one and all and is now accepting song submissions for the beta launch of its “Rock Band Network” online store.

Video games like “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” have brought new distribution channels to the music industry. By matching buttons on game controllers shaped like instruments to notes scrolling on the screen, your rock band can sound like the pros, while hitting the wrong buttons or missing a few scrolling notes makes your group sound like they just picked up their instruments yesterday.

By launching Rock Band Network, Harmonix is giving everyone the opportunity to distribute songs for play and purchase via the “Rock Band” gaming series. Harmonix provides the tools, you provide the songs.

But if you want someone else to handle the chore of turning songs into “Rock Band” downloads, TuneCore, the company known for placing music in online stores like iTunes and Napster, has added a Rock Band Network distribution channel to its services
For an up-front fee of $999, TuneCore will take your music and do what is needed to transform it into ready-to-go content for “Rock Band,” including mixing the audio into individual tracks – called gameplay stems – for guitar, drums, vocals and bass.

As with its other distribution services, TuneCore charges a flat fee for placing music on the Rock Band Network, allowing artists to keep 100 percent of their revenues from sales.

The service also authors the music notation for each instrument, transcribes song lyrics and even adds lighting, camera and animation cues, before distributing your music to the upcoming Rock Band Network store so gamers can spend hours, days or even weeks trying to sound like your band.

Each month TuneCore is also giving one band a free ride to the Rock Band Network. Currently, TuneCore is prepping Minneapolis band Jamestown Story for its moment in the “Rock Band” sun. Having racked up more than 10.7 million streams on MySpace, it appears Jamestown Story is ready to challenge “Rock Band” players worldwide.

While you don’t need TuneCore to place your songs on the Rock Band Network, the music service does make the process easier. When you think of all that’s involved with transforming songs into Rock Band tracks, TuneCore’s $999 fee could be money well spent.