November 20, 2006

Selling Dance Video Content Online

Benoit Beauchamp writes in "Online Revenue for Dance or Theatre Companies?" that he believes that online dance video is best used for promotional purposes and building buzz but is not likely to generate extra revenue for dancers. His post in his Recycled Space blog is in response to my Friday post, "Exploring Internet Revenue Opportunities for Dance."

Benoit writes:

I feel like online video content is for promoting the company itself but as far as I know, it won’t add another revenue model that generates enough funds to have a person doing this full time. The time needed to create those videos is just not possible for a company member to do it part time.

Yes, shooting and editing video is time-consuming. And without exploring new models for generating revenue from online video sales, there are not sufficient funds to pay for this video production work. But, I believe that there are new revenue models to pursue. For example:

- I'd pay extra if a dance teacher put video online of each dance routine taught in class so that I could more easily practice it in between classes. If an entire dance studio with many classes throughout the week did this, the additional revenue from online routines would add up. I'm not talking about time-consuming video shooting and editing. Maybe three different views of instructor demonstrating routine: 1) front-view, 2) back view or through mirror so it's easier to follow along, and 3) a slow version with the count.

- I'd pay for video of staged versions of dance performances if the price were right. I'd pay somewhere between $2-$5 dollars. Given the size of the global audience for dance, just $2 per video could add up to a significant revenue stream.

- I'd also pay for educational video. Once again, the price has to be right - very low. Maybe moves, routines, floor exercises and other dance guidance are sold individually for $2 or $3, or a package is sold of say 10 clips at a discounted rate.

- Finally, I'd pay for dance films that seemed interesting. There is just about no online distribution of dance-on-camera works, which strikes me as odd given the number of festivals held every year. There is a market for selling these dance films on a pay-per-view basis.

But in the end, until there is more experimentation with the above and other possibilities, nobody is really going to know what will and will not work. That's why in my "Exploring the Future of Dance" post from last week, I recommended an online or offline gathering of a diverse group of people from within and without the dance community to explore new online revenue models for dance.

At this point, I'm leaning toward creating a separate blog and inviting a diverse group of people (see listing in my post from last week) to have an on-going discussion focused on this and related topics. It would be great to have Benoit and other dance bloggers participate in this conversation.

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