It's no secret that the music industry is jacked up. Not too many people are making money in that industry right now and although this innovation is by no means changing the way the industry works, I think it is a creative way to leverage those who buy music to find new talent. Signmeto.roadrunnerrecords.com is a new tool that Roadrunner Records is testing out that allows fans to be both scouts of new talent and submitters of new bands. Its a pretty cool idea. The bands with the best and most reviews naturally rise to the top, as well as the scouts with the most comments/reviews. This little free market if you will, naturally funnels the best bands and the best (or at least most dedicated) scouts right into the hands of the label. When I think about this system I think about Seth Godin's Tribes. He says to create an effective tribe you need to give a unified message or reason for being and give a means for members to communicate around that message. Well here is a tribe in action. Let the fans tell you who is the best unsigned band. Let the fans seek out the best unsigned music. Let the fans communicate what they think is cool. And most importantly, leverage the fans to present you with a band you can capitalize on and present to a greater audience. Pretty cool stuff. I need to mess around with the site some more to see really how effective it is, but the concept is a great one. I think being a metal label they are forced to think a little more creatively since metal doesn't translate too well into the Britney Spears pop model of selling records. Whether by choice or necessity, this is the kind of thinking that will 'save' the music industry down the road.
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