Future Of Music

The latest album from pop singer Jesse McCartney could make David Goldberg a star.

Goldberg is general manager of online music sales for Internet giant Yahoo Inc.,
and his Yahoo Music Service is selling McCartney’s “Right Where You
Want Me" without restrictive antipiracy software. If Yahoo can sell
more copies of the album than the dominant iTunes Store, run by
archrival Apple Computer Inc., it could be the beginning of a transformation in the online music market.

Both
companies are selling the album for $9.99. But Yahoo Music won’t try to
prevent buyers from passing out copies to friends, or posting the songs
on the Internet where friends can download them. Versions of the album
sold by Apple and other online retailers will contain the usual
“digital rights management" or DRM software, to prevent illegal
copying. But Yahoo will issue McCartney’s album in MP3, a generic music
format that lets the owner make unlimited copies.

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"There has never been a more exciting time to work in the music
business. Digitalisation gives customers more music in more formats,
whenever they want it, wherever they want it, presenting an enormous
business opportunity for the music and entertainment industries as a
whole." - Event director for Music Matters, Jasper Donat

A significant number of north Asians are already embracing digital technology, especially the young.

The study indicated that 42% chose digital devices like iPods, MP3
players, mobile phones and PCs as their primary mode or device for
listening to music.

"If young people are the future of music, that future is a digital
one," Lee said, noting that 43% of them expect all their music in
digital formats in five years’ time and a further 37% saying they might
be, too," he said.

"The numbers were much higher for the under 25s where about 87% chose
digital devices. About 44% of those aged between 25 and 39 chose
digital while only 12% of those aged 40 and above did so. This shows
the trend will only get stronger as the young people increase in age
and spending power," he added.

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A few months ago, singer-songwriter Emilia
Dahlin received a phone call from a stranger offering her $15,000 to
promote her music - no strings attached.

"I was sure it was too good to be true," said Dahlin, of Portland. "I
went over the contract with a fine-tooth comb and put my trust in a
friend who endorsed the whole thing." She is glad she took a chance on the stranger who was prepared to do the same for her.

Now, Dahlin is one of 19 artists, five from Maine, whose music videos
are being broadcast on a Time Warner Cable music station - not MTV or
VH1, but one more suited to the independent music fan. The TV channel,
which launched at its test site in Austin, Texas, in March and soon
spread to Waco and San Antonio, is called Publik Music On Demand.

The channel is a wing of Portland-based Publik Music, a music
management company that launched in March, which funds and broadcasts
music videos of independent recording artists. Publik Music, which also promotes the indie artists at www.publikmusic.com,
discovers American indie pop musicians on the Internet and through
word-of-mouth. The only prerequisite is the musicians have an existing
album with an independent label or on their own.

Read more about this here.

Ok, while not exactly on topic, the following report from Phil Leigh at Inside Digital Media on the Future of Newspapers illustrates some of the same challenges the record business is facing.  Interesting reading.  From the conclusion:

To conclude, despite shrinking circulation and layoffs, it’s a great time to be in the newspaper business. There’s an unprecedented opportunity to transform readers into audience. Pre-roll ads are stunningly lucrative, partly because the CPM rates match those of television. Conversely, production costs for newspaper video (and audio) provided by their own reporters, as well as third parties, are quite low. Instead of worrying about layoffs, those reporters who produce good podcasts might well become media personalities. I’d bet $100 against a good Cuban cigar that some will become popular enough to be picked-up by television networks.

In short, as a Pogo cartoon character once put it, newspapers will soon find themselves “overwhelmed by insurmountable opportunity”.   

Get the PDF file here.