Mathew's comments - Latest Comments in Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

mathewi — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:04:02 -0000

Thanks, Brian.

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

Brian P — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:01:18 -0000

An important update - SpiralFrog just announced it has achieved more than 1 million unique monthly visitors and more than 400,000 registered users. That's pretty fast growth in just 4 months...

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

Daniel Gibbons — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:30:30 -0000

Allen,
The real point is that no matter how much time you invest in your blog, the time, expense and effort is much lower than producing a track or album.

It's not about the time you spend producing really good content; it's about the noise created by others who collectively are producing an overwhelming volume of copy at the same time, because the barriers to doing so are so low.

Note that I didn't say it was ludicrously easy to create *good* blog content, but rather that *good* isn't enough to create the same market that exists for music.
D

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

allen — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:38:10 -0000

now daniel - that's a pile of crap :)

while i agree for anyone to setup a blog, it might be easy - why don't you come sit with me for a day during 12-14 hours while i write, research, analyze, etc. over the content i write - you see im not a copy blogger.

maybe i am not a blogger after all.

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

allen — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:36:14 -0000

gotcha - it is the same but clearly we won't see eye-2-eye on this... out of curiosity, how much is the newspaper that you write on during the week? like if i bought one at a news stand?

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

Daniel Gibbons — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:03:40 -0000

Something's been bugging me for a while about the chorus of "content must be free". On the surface it implies a wonderful and democratic world in which advertisers support an ever-more diverse pool of artists. But underneath it feels like it's simply about aggregating content for no other purpose than to sell advertising. It's just as cynical and no more egalitarian than the actions of the media barons of old.

I also agree that it's misleading to talk about paying for music and paying for blog feeds in the same context. It's hard and time-consuming to create great music so the market will to an extent always respond to its relative scarcity. It's ludicrously easy to set up a blog and write a few hundred words a day, so there's almost certain to be more decent content than buyers. I don't mean that in any way to disparage those who blog regularly; I simply think it's a reality of this economy.

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

mathewi — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 18:01:02 -0000

Thanks for that, Matt.

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

matt — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:53:52 -0000

Oops, looks like Qtrax doesn't have their ducks in a row:

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/01/warner-were...

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

mathewi — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:52:02 -0000

Allen, I don't really think there's any way to compare a song you can
download and put on a portable player and listen to hundreds of times to a
blog post -- or even a series of blog posts -- from someone, unless (as I
said) that person has something truly unique to say. I wish I could say
that more bloggers (including myself) fit into that category, but I just
don't think that's the case.

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

allen — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:48:05 -0000

oh but not like say, a feed from a writer you enjoy, and get educated from?

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

mathewi — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:33:02 -0000

I don't think it has to be free, Allen -- but it has to be relatively
inexpensive, and easy to buy and use in any way a listener wants to, in my
opinion.

Re: Qtrax: Can ad-supported p2p work?

allen — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:23:35 -0000

it's gotta be free right Mathew? I mean charging for content (which includes music) is wrong! Soon we will get everything for free! Nothing will cost anything.