What can news orgs learn from the music industry's mistakes

Interesting post by Jane Pinckard at GigaOM - What Can Games Learn from Music's Mistakes?

Gist:

1. Radiohead is offering its latest album, "In Rainbows" as a direct download — for a price set by the consumer — a first among high-profile bands.

2. The lesson: Create a fair and consumer-friendly way to free the media.

3. Consumers want the freedom to use their media as they wish. They want to listen to songs in their cars, on their PCs and on their living room stereos. They want to create mixes and playlists and share them with friends; to rip apart songs and create mashups. They want to customize their experience of music.

4. Talented game developers and small studios want a greater degree of access to consumers and want to deal with publishers on their own terms.

5. But the game industry also has its own unique obstacle: the lack of an agnostic, standard platform for game software.

6. "A really interesting thing is to think about the 'If it’s all free, the money's in concerts/live performance' angle for music. Is there an equivalent for games?" The answer, of course, is that there isn't — at least not yet.

7. As Radiohead singer Thom Yorke said to Time Magazine, "I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one."

MORE.