The Economist has a great article on the major music labels and their outlook for the future in the face of digital downloads and the overturning of the dominant industry paradigm. Great opener.
In 2006 EMI, the world’s fourth-biggest recorded-music company, invited some teenagers into its headquarters in London to talk to its top managers about their listening habits. At the end of the session the EMI bosses thanked them for their comments and told them to help themselves to a big pile of CDs sitting on a table. But none of the teens took any of the CDs, even though they were free. “That was the moment we realised the game was completely up,” says a person who was there.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Jason // Jan 14, 2008 at 11:17 am
The crazy thing about this story is that not only is it dead on and exactly right, but no one in the music business (of which i am a “member”) seems to give a shit enough to make the necessary changes and adapt to the new (or A new) business model that the decline in CD sales makes necessary. This could be our next debate, I could talk about this topic for HOURS, DAYS…WEEKS…
Anyway, a bit of suggested reading for you and your readers. Sign up for Bob Leftsetz’s newsletter. Yes, he writes too much. Yes, he writes too often, but every once in awhile the guy hits the nail on the head about this and some other topics crucial to the survival of the music business.
www.leftsetz.com
2 pax // Jan 18, 2008 at 1:23 am
Well, you know, if you’re in an industry that doesn’t know shit about it’s future, there’s got to be some way of positioning yourself to benefit when it all changes. If the major labels don’t do it, someone else surely will, and it might as well be you.
In my opinion, the music business in general isn’t going anywhere, as long as people still like music. It’s the current powers-that-be in the music industry that are in trouble. But fuck them. These are people who sue their own customers.
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