Toronto, Canada - In order to align the musicians' interests with those of their record label or management company, they should get stock options, much like the company executives get. That way, it would be a true partnership in building the artists' brands for the long run, according to Terry McBride, CEO Nettwerk Management. It was one of the innovative ideas he brought to the table at a session on the new 360 deals at Canadian Music Week's digital music & media summit.

However, McBride got a quick reply from one of his fellow panelists:
"It is a good idea, but I don't know if I would want stock options in a company like Warner right now," said Jake Gold, President, The Management Trust, and got a big LOL from the audience.

Fortunately, McBride didn't get discouraged from sharing his ideas, instead he went on to talk about how the music business can "monetize free" and used the example of how Gillette almost gives razors away for free in order to make money off selling razorblades.
"I'm in the business of building and managing brands (not selling CDs). It's all about how you look at it. If you see the artist as a brand, then all of a sudden you have several verticals of monetization at your disposal. It could be ring-tunes, clothing or live-shows etc."
"The record labels don't have the marketing muscle of some of the consumer products companies anymore. So I think we're going to see a lot more of ‘brand alignment'... Why wouldn't Doritos take a CD and stick it into a bag of chips?", said McBride. "I think we're going to see it happen within the next 18 months."

Joakim Baage