Listening To: Robbie Reverb
The history of the music industry is a story of how new technology changes the way artists make money. Sheet music sales, mechanical royalties, the gramaphone, recordable tapes, recordable CDs, one technological advance after another has forced the music business to change the way it gets paid. Indeed, every change has brought about protests and "it's the end of the world as we know it" cries from industry folk and artists alike.
The music business is fine. Plastic CD sales are not. Digital distribution is here to stay and now it's time for the music industry to continue it's long history of adaptation to new technology. Digital distribution of music is much cheaper than manufacturing plastic discs.
I believe the new age of digital distribution will bring about a shift in the music industry where music is like water...literally and metaphorically. Music like a utility that people pay a small fee every month to have access to a steady stream of music like their water supply. This will take a little time to set up, but eventually, people will pay a small fee each month as part of their media bill (cable, phone, ISP will be one bill) and this will generate a huge "pool" of money from which artists will receive their royaties. If everyone paid a small fee, like $1 or $2 dollars a month, there would be alot more money to go around.
Record labels have recoupable costs for producing an artist and many artists never make enough money to pay back the money invested in them by the record labels. This is changing now that digital distribution is becoming the path of least resistance by which music is flowing like water into the ears of billions of consumers.
Music like water. Drink it up.
-Matthew Cepican A&R Vesuvius Records
