Ask HN: Steam for Music?
"1. A cure for the disease of which the RIAA is a symptom. Something is broken when Sony and Universal are suing children. Actually, at least two things are broken: the software that file sharers use, and the record labels' business model. The current situation can't be the final answer. And what happened with music is now happening with movies. When the dust settles in 20 years, what will this world look like? What components of it could you start building now?
The answer may be far afield. The answer for the music industry, for example, is probably to give up insisting on payment for recorded music and focus on licensing and live shows. But what happens to movies? Do they morph into games?"
We (= the possible founders of our next adventure) do not necessarily disagree with the above, but we may have another idea: combining a Steam-like market with the music industry. And while this might seem like a pretty standard idea with a few extras, we're convinced that the in-game achievements and the social aspect of Steam have made it popular, and we think it may be possible to do the same for music.
We are, of course, not sure about this, and would be happy to hear some opinions. What do you think? If you or people you know have ever used Steam, were you more likely to buy games because of the in-game achievements and the social aspect? Would you personally like a similar market for music?