philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

A new “bundle” format turns the file-sharing network BitTorrent into a way to pay for music and other content.

“It’s the first media format designed with the fact in mind that people share stuff on the Internet,” says Matt Mason, chief content officer at BitTorrent. “Bundles let artists make a better connection with fans by selling to them directly.”

Aram Sinnreich, an associate professor at Rutgers who has studied the evolution of file sharing and the music industry’s response, says BitTorrent’s new approach could prove effective. “Here’s a channel that’s been developed entirely organically by consumers themselves [with] hundreds of millions of users around the globe,” he says. “There’s no question that it’s a viable channel for commercial artists to distribute their work, and generate revenues and attention.”

But since spending on music is in decline, Sinnreich says, record labels may be forced to leave their comfort zone and try BitTorrent’s new format, or work with companies such as Google and Facebook, which are both trying to use their video platforms to generate revenue from music and other content.

“Consumers are sharing media with each other at unprecedented rates, via social platforms and everything else,” he says. “The question is to what degree the media industries are equipped to take advantage of that.”

Read the full story here: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/531161/pirate-favorite-bittorrent-offers-a-new-way-to-pay-for-music/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20140929