The ART of the Mega Comeback

You might recall about one year ago that MegaUpload was shut down, creating what might be our very first digital superhero.  Ironically, this underdog is back and possibly larger than ever with its update as MEGA as reported at Digital Music News who recently did a follow-up story on this historical event.  The site announced that MegaUpload Successor MEGA Is Now Officially Live and ready to takeover.

This re-launch will likely be very embarrassing for the FBI and the US Department of Justice and also groups like RIAA that rallied to shut the site down.  It is reported that the new site has the potential to outshine its predecessor and with the support of the public, it is very like to occur.  If that is not interesting enough, there was another component of Mega that was not publicly announced previously that could impact the music industry in a major way.

Source:  www.torrentfreak.com

Along with the development of MegaUpload, was a tool called Megabox, which is described as a music service that could create a dynamic shift the balance of the industry back into the favor of the artists.  According to TorrentFreak, in it’s article, Dotcom’s Megabox to Launch “A Few Months” After Mega, Megabox is scheduled to launch shortly after Mega and will operate using a “free music” model, that gives the public access, while compensating the artists through advertising.  The business logic here is that this approach will help prevent or at minimum reduce the incidences of piracy, while ensure that artists receive payment for their work.  Can you imagine what that will do to other streaming providers who do not currently utilize this model?  For those that are currently operating using an all-you-can use for a flat fee model, but very minimally to the artists, this could create quite a shakeup! 

The technology to support this is called Megakey and requires installation by the user who will receive the music at no cost.  If users opt to uninstall the app, they will be required to pay for the music.  While Megabox will receive a small portion of the revenue generated, it is claimed that the majority will go to the artist.  This potentially creates an environment where the artists will receive up to 90% of earnings and finally tap into the download market that has not previously operated in their favor.  The big question here is will the major labels that benefit richly from the current models allow something like this to happen. 

Given the backlash from the last action against Mega, is it likely that anyone will strike against the brand now?  Not only might this previous underdog come back, if what we hear about this new tool is true, this might represent a major comeback for this tool and the organization.  We will just have to wait and see how this plays out, but this could be an incredible opportunity for independent artists particularly who primarily distribute their music digitally.  Not sure about you, but I’m excited to see how this develop.

These are my thoughts and I would really love to hear yours.  Until then, creatively mind your business.