back at the end of january\/beginning of february, i stumbled into two pieces on how the music business was flopping around trying to find some new models to survive on. this was about music video distribution.<\/p>\n
i don’t want to get too far into the history of the music video, but i will say that generally speaking, the music video has been viewed as an advertisement for the album, much like the tour was to “support the album.” the album<\/a>, of course, being the unit that matters for the record company, since their revenue structure is, historically at least, built on album sales. the current trouble probably has something<\/a> to do with the death<\/a> of the album<\/a>.<\/p>\n in any case, it’s obvious that the record companies need to find new revenue models, and they’re willing to try anything.<\/p>\n universal and warner have realized that the music video is a product unto itself, and as such can be sold (or, rather, monetized):<\/p>\n\n