The Digital Music Renaissance -- In Spite Of The Industry's Efforts

from the how-many-times-does-this-need-to-be-stated dept

You have to wonder sometimes whether or not the recording industry will ever figure this out, but the power of digital music to make a better, more informed and more willing to buy consumer seems completely lost on them. Andrew Leonard, over at Salon, has written a great essay on how the digitalization of music files has changed his music consumption habits. Note that he's not talking about downloading music from file sharing systems, but having the freedom to discover new music easily, obtain that music without too many hurdles, and then do with it what he wants. That's what's so powerful. While the industry is entirely focused on people "not paying" for music, they're missing the opportunity to engage all those who just want to be better music consumers. And, as Leonard points out, no matter how hard they try, the economics of supply and demand show that the industry will never win this battle. "Instead of trying to prevent me from enjoying my own music, the recording industry should be working as hard as it can to get everything online and available, cheaply. It should be making it easier for me to rip and burn to my heart's content. Because when I'm happy listening to music, it doesn't take much encouragement for me to spend more money."
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  1. identicon
    dorpus, 1 Jul 2004 @ 3:13pm

    The Digital Recording Industry Rennaissance

    We're already in a world that is drowned out with low-quality music produced by amateurish bands. There is all the more potential for the recording industry to make big money by promoting a few select groups, profiting from the herd instinct. I have not heard any reports that teens or young adults, the most avid consumer group, are any less conformist than the past.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2004 @ 9:34am

    Not for me

    1. I won't buy online music until they remove the DRM. If I can't play my music on all my computers at homee and at work, and in my car, like I could if I ripped a CD, then buying online is no bargain for me.

    2. I don't want to use inferior formats like WMA9 or MP4 (Apple's broken AAC) I want FLAC or OGG.

    2 can't happen without 1 happening (OGG doesn't have DRM) and I doubt greedy music execs will agree to 1, so they've lost my sales....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    dorpus, 2 Jul 2004 @ 9:38am

    Re:

    What if the average teen doesn't care about all these technical issues, and just wants to buy whatever their friends buy? Then they'll jump through whatever hoops the recording industry sets.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2004 @ 9:59am

    No Subject Given


    and people wonder why we continue to download FREELY available music illegally ...

    link to this | view in thread ]


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