Q: How did the record labels react when you pitched them this idea?
A: The labels were very open-minded and receptive to the idea of meeting with us. We didn't want to go in there with just an idea; we wanted to show that the technology and the idea of a content registry made sense. We went in to make them understand that this was something that -- although it was a long-term and ambitious project -- had to happen, that it was essential for them to succeed in offering the kinds of services that consumers have come to expect.
Did they understand the idea that there could be different kinds of peer-to-peer services? That peer-to-peer was just a technology, rather than necessarily a practice of piracy?
It's obvious when you use the phrase peer-to-peer, certain things come to mind. But in general, they were aware of the fact that other things were possible. We had to be very clear as we talked as to which ideas were new, which were still peer-to-peer in the sense of what peer-to-peer is.
The idea was directly in conflict with what the existing services were able to do. They are as hands-off as possible, and so they're limited as to what they can do in creating a good user experience. That's why there's this huge void in the market. You've got the existing retailers with a lack of content. Then you've got existing peer-to-peers, which are still the majority of the usage, with a really bad user experience.
There have always been two attractive things about peer-to-peer. One has been the breadth of content available, and two, the fact that everything is free. You're still going to be competing with somebody out there who is free, whether it's Kazaa or eDonkey -- or the latest open-source successor. How does that affect you?
We've always expected that free services will exist in some form. There is always going to be some set of users who have more time than money. If you look at the spectrum of users today, the people who pay for iTunes are at one end, and these people are on the other end. There's a huge gap in the middle. These are people who would move if there was an authorised way that was much more reliable to get the stuff they care about, without feeling like they're giving up something significant by moving into an authorised environment.
It is about convenience, and about providing a service that's worth paying for. It's about finding the right business model and the right price point -- which is going to take time. But there are many other business models to be explored. And it's about the content. Snocap is levelling the playing field on the content side, and we're going to open up the market.
