.Evolving Music.

As it stumbles through its awkward adolescence, outgrows old clothes, and starts to think for itself instead of just bowing to the powers that be, our precocious little evolving music industry is beginning to resemble the unencumbered and creative entity that it might one day become.

2008 saw all sorts of interesting trends in music production, distribution, and consumption. Major labels and middlemen were forced to reevaluate their roles, artists and fans continued to empower one another and interact in totally new ways, and people (music bloggers perhaps among the noisiest of the bunch) analyzed the musical space ad nauseum debating issues like DRM and copyright, free downloads and choose-your-price models, social media and social music…

All of this begs the question: What will 2009 bring? Pundits near and far are surely throwing out predictions left and right (let’s face it, we probably will too), but no one really knows what could happen this year.

One interesting development, which could potentially be an early indicator of a new direction is Groove Armada’s new viral music sharing model. The English duo, made up of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay, has now come up with a legal way of sharing music that rewards the fans for doing so, thereby recruiting those fans into somewhat of a virtual street team. Empower the fans and they will become your evangelists. Amen to that.

“When you give away music for free it’s disposable. When you share it, it’s done with love,” says Cato.

Using Bacardi B-Live Share (they sure do love their Bacardi), they offer the first track off their new EP for free, which users then pass along to friends, thus enabling the original user to access the next track. NME states that this system is being called PAP4 (pass-along-paid-for)… questionable nomenclature to be sure. Yet, the concept seems solid. Essentially, the more you share their music, the more of it you get for free.

It will be interesting to see if this gets as viral as it has the potential to do, or if it will be just another good idea that got no traction. One stumbling block could be that although the concept seems as simple as 1) download free song 2) share song with friends 3) get more free songs, it’s actually a little more complicated once you look closely. Click here for more details. You know, things like a) you have to be (or claim to be) of legal drinking age b) you have to have shared track one with 20 people before you get track two, then 200 for track three, and 2,000 for track four… keeping in mind that the second two generations compound so you get credit for your friend that your friend shared the song with. See where this gets complicated? In any case, it’s probably best to just try it. If nothing else at least go get the first song and the facebook app.

Apparently this model has been in the works for a bit. Sadly, none of us were chosen to fly to Ibiza for a day to write about it while it was still in top secret mode…

So let’s see. We’ve got artists ditching the majors and going it alone, with only the internet as their guide. Then we’ve got artists flocking to independent labels looking for that warm and fuzzy we-actually-care-about-you-and-won’t-screw-you-over vibe. And of course, we’ve got artists with smart managers, PR people, or maybe just creative college interns coming up with all sorts of wacky – and sometimes highly effective – pricing models, distribution models and the like.

We’ll see if Groove Armada’s new model works out for them and if so, if others copy it. Until then, however, we can rest easy knowing that the world’s favorite rum has still got their back.

In this day and age – with the unprecedented level of access to information that people have through the internet and other means – consumers are not nearly as gullible as they used to be. Consumers are not only bombarded with advertising from every angle and have to find a way to filter through it, but they have also become jaded to a degree with traditional sales and advertising methods. I know I have.

One thing I’ve found interesting in this new climate is the tricky ways that some of the big players are partnering up to try to reach this new breed of audience. Big name sponsors like Coca-Cola teaming up with shows like American Idol come as no surprise, but then there are some unlikely marriages that make me think “um…weird” at first, but ultimately make a lot of sense.

As the music industry gets repeatedly dismantled and reinvented, all sorts of interesting partnerships are popping up. For example, Guns N’ Roses and Dr. Pepper? Allegedly, Dr. Pepper is going to great lengths to bully encourage GNR to release Axl’s much anticipated “17-year-in-the-making belabored masterpiece, Chinese Democracy, in 2008″ according to the official press release. Free soda for everyone in America…There is even a blog dedicated to this thing. The writers at Tiny Mix Tapes made some interesting observations, including the following:

1. Dr Pepper is shamelessly trying to tap into the music blogosphere with this campaign.

2. Anyone who posted about this offer is a fool and are playing right into Dr Pepper’s hands.

3. We’re fools.

Guess that makes me one too.

Liquor companies have long been reaching their tentacles into the music industry, with tour sponsorships and what not. But what about a specific liquor brand partnering with a specific band? Like Bacardi and Groove Armada? The English electronic music duo, is (according to Wikipedia) “best known to the music listening public for producing music that have featured in numerous media including advertising campaigns, movies and computer games” so they are no stranger to collaboration.

It seems that now the rum peddlers are increasingly establishing themselves in the dance music space. Jeff Macdonald, global brand director for Bacardi, says “This heralds a new era for ‘bands and brands’ and promises to set a precedent as to how both artists and brands can reap the rewards of a mutually beneficial relationship.”

I’m curious to see if this begins to happen on a smaller scale as well, with unsigned independent artists. As the MySpace/YouTube generation of musicians find fame online, will they also find ways to partner with smaller brands?