For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

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	April 8, 2009 Monetizing Social Music Choosing The Right Product And Services Strategy by Mark Mulligan with James L. McQuivey, Ph.D., David Card, Nick Thomas, Erik Hood

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Executive Summary

As CD sales continue to fall off the proverbial cliff and the paid download market fails to take up the slack, social music destinations prosper, utilizing the power of the Web to a degree that download stores never did. Although the most sophisticated destinations will remain the domain of tech-savvy music aficionados, the mass-market components of social music have already helped change the way people interact with music online. As Apple dominates the paid download market, consumer product and services strategists must incorporate social music best practices to develop differentiated, next-generation music offerings. Social music may not generate much revenue now, but monetization's effectiveness must — and will — improve. In doing so, it will become an increasingly important revenue stream that helps fill the gaping hole left by lost CD sales. But, most importantly, social music destinations will continue to build highly engaged audiences and deepen the relationship between fans and their music.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Social Music Is Already A Mainstay Of The Digital Music Landscape
• Fully Effective Monetization Of Social Music Is Still Some Way Off

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Music Product Strategists Should Leverage Social Music Best Practices

WHAT IT MEANS

• Social Music Will Be In The Vanguard Of The Shift To The Consumption Era
• Supplemental Material
• Related Research Documents

This is an excerpt