Inspired by the Jay-Z Construction Set (a CDROM and .torrent full of Jay-Z vocal tracks, samples and art, intended for remixture), Ernest Miller has written a shrewd editorial about a potential path for musicians to engage their fans with their work through the release of similar kits — he likens this to videogames that encourage players to invest in making or seeking out custom mods.
Many videogames permit players to create new content for the game engine, such as levels, maps and mods. This new content is freely distributable (at least for noncommercial purposes) and frequently incorporates content created by the original game designer along with new user-created content. This has been incredibly successful for videogame companies. The more content there is, the more popular the game becomes. The ability to create and add content creates feverish and committed communities of fans for a game. Imagine if musicians had such communities working for them.
(via A Copyfighter's Musings)
