Media Logging
Media Logging is required for PayChoice to work.
PayChoice is a new business model for media in which the users of media pay what they please for what they consume. By sharply reducing the friction involved in paying for media, PayChoice involves much higher percentages of the media-consuming public in the marketplace for media. And, as more people start paying for the media they consume, PayChoice will help stigmatize non-payment for media that is otherwise free.
For PayChoice to work, users must be informed about what media they consume. It must answer questions such as,
- What was that?
- Who was that?
- Who produced that?
- Who were the sources for that?
- When and where did I (listen to, watch or read) that?
- How often did I (listen to, watch or read) that?
- Do I have a relationship with the source? (Such as membership, or past transactions.)
To make sure everybody in the media value chain gets properly credited -- and paid, if we wish -- we need a system for what we're calling ascribenation: the ability to ascribe or attribute credit to a source (or sources) of information used in any media item -- radio programs, blog posts, newspaper stories, or whatever. This way, if the user wishes, he or she can use PayChoice to indicate the intention that ascribed sources might also receive some of what is paid. More under Ascribenation.
ProjectVRM's first effort toward media logging is the Listen Log that will make its first appearance as the ListenLog on the Public Radio Tuner. Development work is described at ListenLog.