Jazz Odyssey

The New York Times has a superb article on the evolution of music video. From the birth of MTV to the rise of online video to the possible future of a video iPod, music video remains a crucial part of the label marketing mix, but are labels starting to optimize the content and financial parameters of music videos? Traditional music television networks no longer the 800 pound gorilla they used to be:

“Visitors to the Yahoo site watch more than 350 million videos per month. In the last week of May, AOL Music had an audience of 12.2 million, according to Nielsen/Net Ratings, and Yahoo Music was close behind with 11.3 million. Though the figures aren’t directly comparable, in the same time period, “Total Request Live,” MTV’s flagship countdown show, drew a daily average of 662,000 households, and “106 & Park,” BET’s countdown show, captures 605,000, according to Nielsen Media Research. Says David Saslow, who is in charge of video promotion at Interscope Records, “If we have a No. 1 video at Yahoo, that’s as important as having a No. 1 video on a network.”

In an era where time-shifting is the norm and video-on-demand is on the rise, music video can’t be viewed as simply a “commercial” for a hit single. Music videos are poised to become even more viral and have a longer tail than ever before. So the $64,000 question is what is the financial model that will deliver the maximum upside in this new music video paradigm? Stay tuned….