A New Day Has Come
Alright, far be it from me to be overly dramatic about Apple, but I really do feel like I've just watched the beginning of the future of the music industry--from here on out, everything changes. Not that it wasn't changing already, from as of this afternoon, rather than the inevitable being brought about with much kicking and screaming, all of the parties involved are actually working together for mutual benefit--now, Hilary Rosen wants me to download music.
It will be interesting to see what effects this has. Eventually, I imagine it could have a huge effect on conventional music sales, but given how long it's taken cassettes to fade away, it could be a little while. People will want to have their music in a portable format, and not everybody has iPods and CD burners right now. But certainly the winds of change have begun in that area.
What I'm far more interested in is the eventual paradigm shift this will entail in the way music is made. As of today, the album, the cornerstone of the music industry, is obsolete. People will buy songs they want, and not songs they don't. It's obvious what that will mean for acts like the Baja Men and Los Del Rio. No more buying complete albums just for Who Let The Dogs Out or Macarena. Don't even bother recording more songs, guys. To their advantage, a lot more people would pay a buck for those songs than $15, so the return on a one-hit-wonder could be even greater.
For other artists, it won't make as big a difference. There are plenty of artists whose albums I would just download in their entirety when they come out.
But then, there are those artists that I buy an album for a handful of songs, only to find more I like the more I play the album. How will that work? Will people be as likely to buy "the other songs" on an album? Or will this end up meaning artists are less likely to come up with as many new songs when their bread and butter comes from a few hits?
Of course, that whole question may prove to be silly as the incentive for artists to release an "album's worth" of materials disappears. Rather than working for however long to put together enough songs for a CD, artists can just release individual songs as soon as they're finished. This could have the effect of letting songs that otherwise would be lost on an album have their day in the Sun. Theoretically, that could really improve radio. It could put an end to the pattern of an artist releasing an album, a handful of singles coming out, and then radio stations playing those singles repeatedly until the next album comes out. Instead, new songs could be played continuously as they are released.

:: :: 13:58 :: David :: [permalink] ::