Can something generic, such as freemium, be considered a business model? The more I read and think about the concept, the more I see freemium as a part of a business model instead of a business model in itself.
If we look at freemium through the lens of Alexander Osterwalders framework in Business Model Generation, we can see that freemium will have a strong effect on several categories, e.g. cost structure, customer segments and revenue streams, but at the same time it won’t give you the entire answer you need to go out and create a viable business — Freemium is still just a part of a business model, and not implementable in itself.
You cannot just choose freemium, you have to choose to build on freemium, and with that design a business model for your company that explains how you create, deliver and capture value. Freemium itself only gives you a framework within the business model concept to guide you in giving away something for free and charging a premium for something else.
(Thanks to Vetle Engesbak for reading drafts of this.)