Brad Burnham doesn’t blog nearly as much as his partner Fred Wilson, but when he does, it’s worth taking note.

Quote:

One way to look at that question is to argue that we have arrived at the end of history. The progression to date has been up the stack in a classic architecture diagram, data is on top of that stack, and nothing sits on top of the data. I disagree. The genius of Craigslist is in its governance system. It is its lightweight governance system that allows 21 people to administer 300 sites in 35 countries. I believe that the basis of competition in web services will shift from the data to the system that manages the acquisition, and use of that data. The governance system that yields the most utility for the largest number of users with the least overhead will ultimately manage the largest communities with the most valuable data.

Let that sink in.

Technorati Tags: technology, vc

Josh Hallett points to a post by The Diva who wonders if Atlanta is becoming the “social media” mecca of the South. Josh is right. I’ll provide some push-back on that notion. Heck, everyone knows that Mothership BBQ is the social media mecca of the south. In Nashville, we don’t need no stinkin’ conferences on social media. Just have BusyMom post the word there’s going to be a “meat-up” at Mothership and at least 30-40 bloggers, podcasters, video-bloggers will show up.

Nashville does have one thing going for it. When the first major media company in Nashville decided to experiment with social media, they decided to reach out to bloggers rather than compete with them. That, and they hired a secret weapon: Brittney.

Seriously, however, I think one would be hard-pressed to declare that a “center” of social media exists anywhere — I think part of the appeal is that it is “from the edge.” Sure, the Silicon Valley is the center of all things Web 2.0ish. But Facebook was created in Cambridge, Mass., and Wikipedia was created in Tampa, Fla., and Flickr was created in Vancouver, but who cares? [Do I need to continue: MyBlogLog in Orlando, Basecamp in Chicago, FeedDemon in Nashville (no kidding -- ask Nick.)] These “social media” could have been created anywhere. Their success came because they attracted loyal users from everywhere — the users made them what they are.

Final observation: As for the true mecca of social media in the South. I think that’s anywhere Ed Cone is.

Technorati Tags: blogging, nashville, social media

Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson’s post on his Long Tail blog confirms what people at record labels (including those in Nashville where I live) already know: there’s got to be a better way to make money than by selling recorded music.

Quote from Chris:

So there’s big money in live shows (92% of the Rolling Stones’ revenues comes from performance, not recorded music). Sadly for the labels, they don’t get any of it. No wonder they’re so against free music. It only helps the bands (and consumers)!

Recently, I had lunch with someone plugged into the Nashville music industry (something I am not) who told me that five years ago, record labels would advise their new artists to set up a website, but wanted nothing to do with it. Now, record labels demand rights to and revenues from the online properties of artists they sign. Record labels are also trying to get into artist management and tour-booking, as well. As Chris points out, that’s where the money is. My friend, the music industry expert, says: “I’ve never seen a company good at everything.” He then shared his common-sense business wisdom that (in my interpretation of what he said) just because a record label can ship boxes of CDs to WalMart doesn’t mean it can create web properties and produce concert tours.”

This issue is nothing new. Not by a long-shot. Over the years, I’ve seen many well-written and convincing explanations of how one can make money by giving something away for free. The business-to-business media industry was built on a similar business model. Most B2B media companies give away the magazine to qualified readers, recoup their costs and generate a small margin from advertising and then make the “big bucks” by hosting tradeshows, awards programs, seminars, etc. In other words, in the business-to-business media world, they’ve already figured out it’s the “live shows” where you make the money.

I can’t believe it was 12 years ago, but back in 1995, in the magazine Chris today edits, the ever-prescient observer of all things digital Esther Dyson wrote something on this topic that has influenced me since the moment I read it. The July, 1995 issue of Wired magazine (3.07) included an essay by Esther called, “Intellectual Value: A radical new way of looking at compensation for owners and creators in the Net-based economy.”