There's been a lot talk about 'free' recently. As in, business models that have giving stuff away at their heart. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. But it's how much of the TV business, here and in the US, has made its money. ITV, or NBC, offer consumers free content via TV, then sell the resulting audiences to advertisers.
Funnily enough, at a time when the TV companies are having to think about new ways to earn money, the basic 'free' model is being adopted elsewhere, for other forms of content.
Particularly music. Today's report in The Guardian on We7 (an online music service) and its deal with Sony BMG lists a number of collaborations between the music industry, online services, and phone companies (both handset manufacturers and network operators) that all involve giving the consumer music for free, in the hope of either tying them into a longer-term relationship or persuading them to spend time with advertisers.
