Making profit with a nonprofit model: Creative Commons meets business
An interview by Matthew Leung
Distributing music for free while bringing in profit, CEO of Magnatune John Buckmann reveals how to have your cake and eat it too.
This show first aired on WVKR 91.3 FM Poughkeepsie at 7:30am ET on April 14, 2008
Full show playing (30 minutes):
Show rundown (transcript of opening and interview questions):
0:10-0:30 And you are listening to The Technology Beat, broadcast here on WVKR 91.3 FM Poughkeepsie as well as on the web at www.TheTechnologyBeat.com I’m your host, Matt Leung.
0:30-1:30 We are continuing our 2-part series from last week about the adoption of the Creative Commons license in commercial businesses. The use of the Creative Commons license in for-profit businesses is very unique, and only a small number of businesses are using this model. Today I’m talking with the CEO of one such business, John Buckmann of Magnatune. Magnatune is a well-known Online music record label and store that is widely featured in the media such as USA Today, BBC World, The Boston Globe, and Time Magazine, among many others. The website Magnatune.com today features 269 artists, 595 albums, and 8,724 songs.
So, Creative Commons could potentially be very beneficial for commercial businesses. And joining us via Skype today to talk about this is John Buckmann, CEO of Magatune. Welcome, John.
Questions: Length of Interview: 17 minutes
1.
And as you know, on the last show, I was interviewing Neil Leyton, founder and direction of the Fading Ways music record label. And during my interview he mentioned Magnatune briefly, and described your innovative use of Creative Commons in your for-profit business as pioneering. And it is true that the use of Creative Common in pro-profit businesses is rare. Can you start off by talking about how you adopt Creative Commons into your business?
2.
Uh huh, so people can download and listen and share the music for free, but if they use the music in a commercial work, they would have to pay.
3.
And this sharing of music is governed in a very specific way through Creative Commons, right?
4.
And how do the artists react when they see your application of Creative Commons. Are they already familiar with Creative Commons, and is there any skepticism?
5.
And last week I was talking about the music record label, Fading Ways. Um, are you familiar with that record label, which also use Creative Commons in their for-profit business.
6.
And how is your business different from Fading Ways?
7.
And for your business, does the Creative Commons license govern the business aspect, such as the money transaction, if, let’s say, people decide to use the music in a commercial work.
8.
And how did you go about coming up with an agreement with the artists for sharing the money received for the music?
9.
Uh huh, and let’s talk about the kind of artists you work with. Are they independent artists or do you work with other kinds as well?
10.
So, your business, Magatune, is one of the very first businesses to innovatively adopt Creative Commons in the business model. Are other companies catching on this and copy what you are doing with Creative Commons?
11.
So, the software parallel to Creative Commons that you are talking about is Open Source, right?
12.
So, open source has already proven itself in terms of popularity in usage and being able to compete with commercial software. How do you compare Creative Commons with Open Source. Do you think Creative Commons has the potential reach the stage that Open Source is at?
13.
Now, in terms of your use of the Creative Commons license, do you use multiple versions of it depending on the nature of the music or do you just use one version of the Creative Commons license for all music distributed through Magnatune.
14.
Now, I saw that there were about 7 different versions of the license on the Creative Commons website. When artists sign onto your site, do they say that they want to license their music under a particular version, or do they just use the one that you have chosen for your site?
15.
And where is the music from you site used the most, is it in documentaries, movies, or other works?
16.
And as far as future direction, do you plan to maintain the scope of your present business, or do you plan to expand to other areas?
[Music break]
17.
And let’s talk about the Creative Commons license itself. Do you think the increasingly popular use of the Creative Commons license will help cut down on the illegal download of music?
18.
And in the future, do you think that the increasing popularity of Creative Commons means that people who listen to commercial music will be attracted to listening to Creative Commons music instead?
19.
And for the businesses out there, you mentioned that not a lot of businesses are adopting the Creative Commons license at this point. Why do you think that is the case?
20.
And how do you attract the artists to your site. Do artists find out about your site from other artists, or do you reach out to them?
21.
Uh huh, so what criteria do you look for when you screen the music that comes in?
22.
And as for the range of music that is on your site, are they mostly soundtracks, or are there more genres?
23.
And what is the major difference between an artist who adopt a Creative Commons license on their own verses using your site?
24.
And for the future of Creative Commons, how do you think it’s going to expand? Is it going to keep the same audience, or will the audience of Creative Commons works be diversifying?
25.
Now, for the musicians out there who are just starting out, or bands who are just starting to produce music, what is your advice to them, if they are considering the creative commons license?
26.
And what about for musicians who say that they want to protect their music?
End of interview:
Those are some very useful information, and I am very glad that you talked with us today about your innovative implementation of the Creative Commons license!
19:00
And you can reach magnatune at Magnatune.com, that’s m-a-g-n-a-t-u-n-e.com. And for the second part of the show I’m going to play you three of the bestsellers this week on the Magnatune website.
The first song I’m going to sample with you is called Lamborghino from the independent artist duo Burnshee and Thornside. It’s from his album called The Art of Not Bending in. The two play an eclectic mix of upbeat songs ranging from jazzy funk and soul to sixties sunshine pop.
[Burnshee - #2 4:05]
Our next bestselling artist at Magnatune is Brad Turcotte from Ottawa, Canada. Brad began releasing his indie pop tunes under free-distribution in 2002 and has reached not only Magnatune but also a wide range of audience and sales, making him one of the bestsellers. The song I’m going to play is called Making Me Nervous, from his album I Don’t Know What I Am Doing.
Song “Brad Sucks” #1 2:36
And the last song I’m featuring today from Magnatune is from a piano soloist, Rob Coslow, a native of Indianapolis. He started playing the piano at 5, and in just a couple of decades, Rob has released his professional solo project called Sophomore Jinx. You are going to hear one of the tracks from this album called I Do.
Song “Rob Coslow” #1 4:27
That was the piano solo of Rob Coslow, one of the best-selling artist at the Online music record label and store Magnatune.com. And we are at the bottom of the half hour, so I’ll have to say good bye here, but you don’t have to, because The Technology Beat streams 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at www.TheTechnologyBeat.com. You can visit the show’s website for a recap of today’s show as well as links to the sites we discussed today. And join me next time, when I will interview another musician who values the creative use technology in music as well as the free distribution of music, right here on The Technology Beat.
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