Trama - music company of the future

At the culture/media commons panel this morning, we heard from Andre Szajman, the president of what is surely the coolest music company in Brazil, Trama. Created in 1998 with a philosophy that "music is our oxygen, we believe that it can help the country to develop the social and political understanding and conscience", Trama has evolved into an extraordinary portal and undertakes a wide variety of activities.
It releases music by new and traditional Brazilian artists; built a digital download store two years before iTunes, and with no DRM; in 2003 launched a p2p promotion where you could win a prize if a certain mp3 was found on your harddrive; and is educating all its acts on the benefits of CC releases. It's also a music publishing company, offers tour management services, and is now the biggest indie distribution company in the country, working with other small labels and artists to distribute to retail outlets.

A major focus today is on TramaVirtual, the largest music community on the web in Brazil (predating MySpace too, as Andre enjoyed pointing out), with some 26,000 participating artists.  Last year Trama released an album by Cansei de Ser Sexy, a band discovered through the site, and this year it'll launch a TV show for broadcast across Brazil on the Multishow channel. Trama also organises tours of universities across the country putting on showcases and teaching students about CC, and recently launched a space where students can post their resumes so that sponsoring companies can recruit from the user pool -- about 220 students have found employment through link-up already. Revenue is generated through CD and download sales and sponsorship on the Trama site, with future streams expected from ringtones and advertising on the TV show.

If there's a model for the music company of the future, Trama might just be it.