You’ve heard of record resale stores. What of taking the same concept to digital format? Re-Digi aims to do just that, and they have a model that could benefit artists too! Here are some bullet points highlighting what the biz does:
- Give 20% of transaction revenue directly to artists
- Has system in place to ensure no pirated music is re-sold
- One ups traditional resale stores, which give artists nothing for a sale
- Allows users to place orders for pre-owned songs
Here are my thoughts:
- This is thinking out of the box – great idea
- Loyal fans would be tempted to switch from iTunes to ReDigi by placing pre-orders
- No extra marketing costs on the part of artists/promoters should be necessary – the concept will sell itself to those who like to geek out at record stores anyway
- I don’t think the amount of people relying on “resale” preorders will be enough to leave any serious dent in existing digital music stores
- The music industry needs to calm down about the “piracy” danger of online reselling; the 20% reimbursement to artists ought to help them stay on their feet more than traditional means today, enabling them to KEEP MAKING MUSIC and STAY on record labels! That said, the watchful eyes of those threatening or in the process of lawsuits against ReDigi should serve as motivation for top-notch screening software that distinguishes between those songs legitimately attained or otherwise.
I’m really in to ReDigi. It’s such an obvious business idea, I can’t believe it is only now surfacing. I’m especially into the artist and consumer “friendliness” of their approach. I hope this company takes off, I really believe it has the potential.
Solid piece, Ryan. I remember reading about ReDigi a while ago, and wondered what others thought about it. A tip to give you (from writer to writer) would be to explain the service more. Don’t always expect your reader to have background knowledge on such a new service or product unless if it’s something that is well marketed.