The Idea Is Free - and Eventually a Comment on Lifechurch
Me: "Ideas are free. Ideas have always been free. Everybody has ideas. You hear people say them all the time. Wouldn't it be great if...and then there's the idea." And then we started talking about music and the internet and stuff and how now that digital music is available, the genie is out of the bottle and so many people can get songs for free - often illegally - but more and more bands are releasing songs into the wild legally, too, especially independent artists.
The guy said something like, "Maybe because they can't sell them they put them out there for free."
Me: "No, they know that the song is the idea, and the idea is free. The song is what sells you on THEM They are the product, the song is just the idea, and ideas are free."*
You hear the song or see the video on YouTube or NoiseTrade or a thousand other places where the song has been released into the wild and you like it - and it's free - no commitment on your part, so you're free to walk away from this idea and that's the risk the artist takes by releasing the idea for free - but if you engage, you might seek out the artist.
We're way more internet savvy these days - so it's a quick search to Google seven words in a row from a lyric to find out what a song is, who did it, link to a fan made YouTube video to make sure that's the right artist, then go to the artist page - takes about a minute or two, really. Go ahead.
"Isn't it nice to know that the lining is silver"
Easy to do, that's the hook you'd remember from the song - and the whole first page in Google is going to get you the right song. Major bands** are doing that - releasing official videos on YouTube or elsewhere - because they know even though you're going to download the video to your iPod - and that a lot of us are able to rip the audio and consequently not purchase the single, the song is the idea, and the idea is free (LOTS of people are still going to buy the song - but more and more, bands and artists are going to find alternate ways to make money - that's a topic for a different post maybe).
Here's the video that inspired this post:
I got an email from Andrew Belle because I checked out some of his music on NoiseTrade - all that was required was that I submit my email address. I could tip him if I liked what I heard and I could share on Twitter or Facebook if I wanted to - all that is optional. And I could opt out of the email once I signed up, but I don't mind the once every 4 to 6 weeks or so emails from these independent artists that I get for having received sometimes whole albums for free. And a couple of the artists I've become true fans. If they come into the area close enough, I'll pay the money to go see them. Because the FREE IDEA sold me on the real product, which was THEM. But, my point, how cool is it that this guy releases a HD video on YouTube of his new single? Pretty cool video too, even if it is a little stalkerish - though I've only watched it once - I really like the animation technique.
Ever notice how there will be a run on a certain genre of movie? Like asteroid hitting the earth movies or whatever? A script will get shopped in Hollywood (and no one will admit this, I'm sure) and they'll pass on the script, but say to themselves the IDEA is a good one, but we can do it better. And so you get three movies in one summer about alien invasions - and the one with the biggest budget or the most famous actors...or, probably, the biggest advertising budget (or makes it into the McDonalds happy meals) is the big hit. But the IDEA is out...
Here's the point for me. Lifechurch is on to something. They have created millions of dollars worth of resources that people can use absolutely free - graphics and videos and whole messages if you want to - but that's not all - have you heard of YouVersion? Yeah, that was them. And they have church metric stuff and family ministry stuff and personal stuff and... yeah, you get it, right? That goes WAY beyond the notion that the IDEA is free - but it started with someone saying, "Hey, I have an idea." And while there are lots of churches who don't have a single unmarketed idea (too many churches, if you ask me), Lifechurch ain't one of them.
So... My point is this. What are some of the areas where people would typically expect in the OLD ECONOMY to be paying for something that we can leverage it as being the IDEA that could be free - to sell the product, which is us? The "us" in this case being the local church, the, as we say here, family of believers serving God. How do we connect with people in a new and innovative way? Bands are now giving away what was once their most precious commodity to make a more real connection with the people. What about us?
*Turns out there's a book with this title - a haven't read it, can't recommend it or decry it. Interesting times we live in...ideas are EVERYWHERE. heh...
**Switchfoot Coldplay LOTS of others... U2's I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight video was the first I paid attention to being released on YouTube (how out of the loop I was - licensed to Vevo...
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