playlouder’s ISP innovation how-to

Internet Service Providers are done enticing consumers with mere access – it’s just no fun for the customer.

The clever ones transform themselves into Content Service Providers, or as Playlouder will have it, MSP’s.

From their website: ‘That’s right, PlayLouder is bringing yours truly the first ever Music Service Provider! Raaaaaaahhhhh! Which basically means you will now be able to share and download music with your mates and virtual chums all over the UK, without worrying about Mr Big beating you with a truncheon, nicking all your cash and throwing your miserable ass in chokey.’

What makes it so great – ‘you dear music lovers’ – is that together with a broadband connection, the lucky citizens of the UK can now gain access to thousands of legal music files, free of Digital Rights Management (what’s DRM?).

And how, in Conservative Music Mogul’s name, do they do it? They’re paying royalties to the record companies for activities previously unlicensed and unlawful. ‘Neat eh?’ I should think so (if not for the idea, then at least for pulling off such a deal).

True business model innovation, and it comes packed with a fair amount of witty laughter. I’ve already e-mailed the good people at Playlouder MSP, begging them to come over and connect us deprived citizens of the Netherlands.

But they let me know we’ll have to sit our miserable Mere Access Provision for the time being.

Read more elsewhere

Playlouder seems to grab a bit from all of Eric Bun’s Five inspiring Business Model Innovations in the Telecommunication Industry, which is a good overview on what’s happening in the ISP industry.

And, for some stick on how not to approach this – on both ISP and the music industry fronts, have a look at The Register’s Andrew Orlowski: How to Destroy the Music Business. It talks of blanket license free proposals of €1, per year – per household, and how such measures would destroy any incentive for consumers to pay for better-than-almost-free ‘value added services’ (check out more recent, related articles at the bottom of that post).

Finally, read Wikipedia’s article on the analogue hole to find out what the photo at the top wants to convey about the futility of DRM (and don’t get your hopes up, because it’s not about porn).

(photo Radio At The Edge Session on Digital Rights Management dan taylor)