This is a quick follow up to my post from yesterday.

Craigslist continues to squeeze the life out of the newspaper industry by offering free classifieds ads. Consider how a widely promoted, free music directory of highly qualified music would be disruptive to the combination of radio and record labels.

The score on commercial radio and record labels (as a symbiotic entity).

• The range of new music is impossible to navigate.
• Music selection is driven by legal contracts (‘record deals’) that are constructed around outdated business models.
• No music selection is enabled outside of the contractual cocoon.
• The legacy cost structure perpetuates the model. Business as usual is almost a must.
• The price of music (any price) cuts out 50% of the market.
• On the plus side, music is promoted via radio. However, this is becoming less and less important. Find out why.

The score on a smartly-constructed & massively-promoted free music directory.

• The range of just-as-good new music (as good as artists on labels) is almost limitless.
• The navigation of (the ability to 'tune into') FILTERED new music is off-the-charts powerful and fun.
• Contractual arrangements are short, simple and attractive to artists.
• Music is available everywhere but terrestrial (linear) radio.
• The cost structure of this business is far less than the cost structure of labels and radio combined.
• Music is free if consumers want it.

A few notes…

• Could the entire thing be relatively ad-free and very profitable? I believe so.
• Jamendo is cool (if this site comes to mind), but they have a lot of wood to chop first. I don’t believe the Creative Commons license structure is going to do the trick for anyone building this.
• In five years most music will probably just stay in the cloud. The days of moving media to one’s hard drive are numbered.
• iLike, Last.FM and imeem have some of the components described here.
• TheSixtyOne is my favorite music site so far.