Open Warrior

Just days after my post about “the attention economics of information” a classic example of our move into the attention driven economy has come to the forefront of the entertainment industry.

Madonna, the 14th most popular recording artist of all time, has signed to a new label called Live Nation. Live Nation is different from other recording labels in that, instead of concentrating on CD sales, they concentrate on live performances and merchandise – a strategy that is perfectly aligned with the attention economy in that it identifies that the means of information distribution has changed, and is modeled to suit this change, ie. modeled on attention.

The implications of this new business model are clear – success is a function of attention. If more people are reached, more people will be interested in attending concerts and buying merchandise, and Live Nation will be more successful. This is fully supportive of the less restrictive licenses which arise in the attention economy, such as the creative commons licenses, which grant end users the right to copy and distribute material.

Live Nation have identified the change taking place in the economy, isn’t it time the rest of the big players do?