Music Industry, RIP
Rapid change. More has happened in the landscape of online music/distribution in the past ten months than in the previous seven years. Tower Records has closed, CD sales have tanked, iPod penetration only increases, the majors can keep their heads in the sand no longer.
The Minnesota courtroom victory is the last hurrah of a failed strategy. Lawsuits might not be abandoned, but they will be back-burnered. The majors have to figure out a way to get people to pay for music. And the only way to do this is to create an attractive value proposition. Don’t be surprised if in the next twelve months some form of P2P is licensed. More probable is an expansion of the eMusic model, wherein for a low price you get a bushel of unprotected MP3s.
Great write-up on the demise of the music industry from Bob Lefsetz – a brilliant music critic/blogger who reminds me of Vizzini:
