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5 Reasons Free Is Hurting Us All

image from www.google.com Few question the power of free music to garner new fans and reward existing ones. But marketing guru John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing is worried that too much free has side effects. Free everything has "created an environment that may actually be hurting the seeker of quality information more than the spreader of quality information, writes Jantsch. "The trend towards tiered levels of paid content will continue to escalate and the ability to foster community around your content will be the most important measure of value."  The 5 Reasons Free Is Hurting Us All:

  1. No accountability.
  2. Eroded value.
  3. Lowered expectations.
  4. Blocked revenue.
  5. Community buster.

Jantsch elaborates here.

Bruce Houghton on 06/02/2011 in Uncategorized | Permalink | Comments (5)
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5 Comments

  1. There is too much free. It phases me as much as someone handing out a flyer after a show-I just don’t care and won’t bother checking it out.

  2. Almost Godin-like in it’s simplicity, this was a good breakdown by Jantsch. I would definitely recommend his Duct Tape Marketing book to DIY musicians — it’s grounded in the practical and full of ideas. That and “Made to Stick” (Heath brothers) is a pretty sufficient education in the Black Arts of Marketing.

  3. 1 – Accountability / ???
    2 – Eroded Value / Value is in the eye of the beholder.
    3 – Lowered Expectation / How can you judge something unless you’ve tried it?
    4 – Blocked Revenue / If you’re giving it away for free then you either don’t care that it’s free or you do so to make new fans that will come to your shows and purchase merchandise.
    5 – Community Buster / Yeah, because maximizing the amount of people who can hear your music doesn’t foster building your fan base. :/
    I’m not saying that all this is hogwash, but indie musicians sooner or later learn that unless they’ve got the deep pockets that labels have to invest into marketing their music, the only way they can even come close to hoping to compete is to give their music away for free!
    Free album download at http://www.facebook.com/chancius

  4. Yeah. Something that people need to learn is that when they hear “free” and “unlimited”, the cost is higher in the long run. Just basic common sense.

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