Seth Godin Draws Some Lessons From The Sinking Music Industry

Seth Godin dishes 15 tips to musicians on the cusp between old and new media.

• The new thing is never as good as the old thing, at least right now
• Past performance is no guarantee of future success
• Copy protection in a digital age is a pipe dream
• Interactivity can’t be copied
• Permission is the asset of the future
• A frightened consumer is not a happy consumer
• This is a big one: The best time to change your business model is while you still have momentum
• Remember the Bob Dylan rule: it’s not just a record, it’s a movement
• Don’t panic when the new business model isn’t as ‘clean’ as the old one
• Read the writing on the wall
• Don’t abandon the Long Tail
• Understand the power of digital
• Celebrity is underrated
• Value is created when you go from many to few, and vice versa
• Whenever possible, sell subscriptions

The opportunity of digital distribution is this:

When you can distribute something digitally, for free, it will spread (if it’s good). If it spreads, you can use it as a vehicle to allow people to come back to you and register, to sign up, to give you permission to interact and to keep them in the loop.

This is a philosophy to commit to memory. There’s much needed explanation at his original post: Music lessons