Consumer Passion

Gold In Them Thar Cranky Customer Hills

In a Digital Rules piece titled Faith, Trust and Networks, Forbes Publisher Rich Karlgaard nails the benefits of tapping Consumer Passion on the head - even if that passion is somewhat cranky - in the latest edition of Forbes Magazine.  Karlgaard, a licensed pilot and owner of a Cirrus single-engine aircraft, describes the reason Cirrus owners are Cirrus owners (they fell in love with this unique aircraft).  He then goes into detail about an internet message board created by Cirrus owners, and the effect the brutally honest chatter is having on the company. 

Quoting Karlgaard:  "Cirrus owners raucously debate whether blame goes to a flawed part or a ham-fisted owner. The spitballs go back and forth, 24/7/365 ... In other words, COPA (Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association) is an online community like any other. Rough and uncensored. But below the hiss and venom lies gold. Steadily COPA has produced a body of knowledge about how Cirrus airplanes behave in real-world conditions that has served Cirrus supremely well."

Some companies launch their own consumer-generated pipeline (Dell's IdeaStorm an example).  Others find their customers creating their own platform to chat, complain, vent and praise.  Karlgaard reminds us that the customer voice, while loud and humbling at times, can ultimately be beneficial if companies take the time to listen and learn from their most passionate consumers.

What The Apple/EMI Deal Means For Passionate Fans Of Music

It means you'll be able to purchase and download songs from EMI's catalogue (sorry Beatles fans, not the Fab Five) without restrictions.  No more limitations on the number of computers or devices you can download to.  And the song you purchase via iTunes, can be played on your iPod or ANY OTHER device, be it of the MAC or Windows variety.  The new DRM-free songs (DRM = digital rights managment) will also be higher quality (256kbps ACC encoding instead of 128.  So they should be true CD quality, without that hint of 'streaming' sound.  The more kbps (kilo bits per second) the more the original recording is retained.  A smaller number, and small chunks of audio are lost.  If it was a picture, the closer you got, the more blury it would be.  The songs will also be higher priced, $1.29 vs $.99.  

It'll be very interesting to see if DRM-free songs will reverse an ugly slide in music sales.  Record companies have been slow to adapt to the digital age, and extremely cautious due to the obvious concerns of music piracy.  Offering songs without restrictions, to some, may seem like business suicide.  But it may actually prove to be the salvation of the music business.  Music piracy is wrong, period.  It's illegal.  And it's also rampant.  Part of the reason, and I'm not making excuses for ILLEGAL behavior, is supply and demand.  The demand for music is there.  But the makers of music have been so slow to adopt new supply routes (digital downloading), that consumers have replaced impatience with illegal behavior.  DRM songs are harder to download and use, and their restrictions are maddening.  I'm guessing that offering restriction-free songs will be so appealing to the millions of consumers who prefer to do things the right way, that digital music sales will jump.  And that'll be music to everyone's ears. (see press release for full details on today's announcement)