Over two years ago now I devised the idea of the Digibundle. This was not so much an invention as a prescient intuition. It was and still is clear to me that the Digibundle will be integral to, if not the dominant mode of media production and distribution in the digital age.
The Digibundle is simply a file containing multiple digital artifacts (pics, vids, sound files, docs, apps etc.) which can be compiled by the producer and downloaded by the consumer. There are a number of factors which make this so important.
A Digibundle can mimic and in fact enhance any current form of media product. An album, for example, is not just a collection of twelve songs. A proper album (as opposed to a songbook of compiled recordings) is a unified whole. The artwork, the physical product, the thematic content and context of the music is a psychological whole that evolved in opposition to the practice of merely collecting songs. In modern times the downloading and playlisting of individual tracks has bypassed the album, but the Digibundle allows the album to be reborn in the digital age. A Digibundle can contain not only an ordered collection of sound files but pictures, videos, documents, even apps which can elevate the music from a mere collection of songs to a substantial artistic product. This applies to any form of media that can be digitised – film, animation, graphic design, the written word, etc. If DVDs were exciting because they allowed film-makers to include extras then Digibundles are exponentially more exciting because the nature of these extras can be greatly expanded upon.
But that doesn't begin to explain why I think Digibundles will be so ubiquitous in the future. The important factor is that Digibundles eliminate the enormous cost of material production and distribution - the cost of which has always required that an artist make a deal with a major company if they want their work to be seen. The problem with big companies and big costs is that they will screen their investments to make sure that they are getting a return. And the problem there is that commercial value has little relation to artistic value. A song which lends itself well to remix, for example, has far more commercial value than one which does not. With Digibundles an artist can sell their product direct to the consumer, no material production or distribution costs, no middle-man, no screening process, all money straight to the artist. This also means that the cost of the product falls more in line with the expectations of a new generation who have grown up with downloading and stopped buying albums and DVDs as a consequence of the ease of piracy. A Digibundle mimics and in fact competes with piracy: A couple of clicks and the product is yours, and all for a price that is affordable and fair and which goes straight to the artist.
As I said, this idea was not so much an invention of mine as a prescient vision. In September 2013, the peer-to-peer downloading company BitTorrent launched a service that allowed people to publish BitTorrent Bundles. The idea, even the name, is virtually identical to mine (except that theirs is branded). In September 2014, Thom Yorke released his solo album, 'Tomorrow's Modern Boxes', as the first paid Bundle. The press releases by Thom Yorke and BitTorrent exhibit the same vision and enthusiasm for Digibundles that I have had for years.
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