It seems like everyday you see articles speaking of the demise of the music industry as a whole. The big one was a few years ago when a Wired magazine arrived at my desk with the cover picture of the burning Hindenburg and the once Apple tagline “Rip. Mix. Burn.” It included a CD of music that was licensed with Creative Commons which you could basically rip, mix and burn without worry of getting in legal trouble. I like to think that that was the issue that brought the issues out in the open for the industry. It was copied and the issue was handed around to quite a few people in the office. Nothing like that has really happened since.
That was February 2003, now return to 2007 and what has happened since then? The illegal Napster shut down but there are people in the industry that said it was a mistake. They fought it when they should have embraced it and worked to make it a viable model. Physical album sales are still in decline while legal digital sales haven’t made up the difference. Labels are still cutting back while trying to figure out how to expand digital. Do more with less while trying to keep stockholders happy with higher returns each year.
Rolling Stone magazine published another article last month about the continuing decline of the industry titled “The Record Industry’s Decline – Record sales are tanking, and there’s no hope in sight: How it all went wrong.” It kind of goes through everything the Wired article does and also continues till now. A nice aspect of the story is that it ends with how the industry is changing….slowly.
There is no one solution to the music industries woos but people are working towards a solution. With every industry that goes through radical upheavals there will be ones that fall behind and those who excel.
One radical idea for a possible solution is split the labels up but not in the sense of anti-trust. Each of the major labels has possibly a dozen or so imprints under the corporate umbrella so why not spin them off back into their own companies again. Consolidation was thought to be great because you could reduce labor costs and improve efficiencies but what it also does is reduce diversity. Nashville right now is having a renaissance with the independent music labels. They are thriving, innovating and nimble. So why not take a large company split it up and have a dozen nimble Indies? Its part of the “Long Tail” marketing, selling more of less.
I think the music industry will be fine in the end of the transition. It’s the struggle from the old economy that you knew to the one you don’t.
Further Reading:
- The Record Industry’s Decline – Record sales are tanking, and there’s no hope in sight: How it all went wrong
RollingStone.com - How I Learned to Love Larry: She was the champion of the music industry. He was the voice of the people. It was a deathmatch made in heaven – but they found common ground.
Wired.com - Sample the Future: Rip, mix, burn. Swap till you drop. The music cops can’t do a thing – it’s 100 percent legal, licensed by the bands.
Wired.com - ‘F*cked’ record companies in ‘cataclysmic’ meltdown – manager: So are live promoters the new pigopolists?
TheRegister.co.uk
Technorati Tags: rollingstone, the long tail, rip mix burn, consolidation, wired, napster, creative commons
