One thing not to overlook is the sheer decline in outlets to purchase the physical product, leading potential consumers to an online ecosystem that offers several options to acquire new music.
The days of Mall outlets like Record Town and Sam goody, as well as local indie stores are long gone. Even the big box stores that labels whored themselves out to - at a devastating cost to indie outlets - have significantly reduced the retail space for music.
As a result, those seeking all but the most generic of titles have no other place to turn but the digital atmosphere, regardless of preference for the quality and (occasionally) legality of the avenue.
There is also a certain distrust consumers hold towards major label a a result of the way the labels have entered the digital marketplace kicking and screaming. From (1) Price-fixing CD's [after a successful FTC prosecution] (2) the Sony root kit disaster and especially, (3) Major label collusion [and corresponding DOJ investigation] in online music licensing markets; the hesitancy of these companies to embrace digital distribution has been done on the backs of consumers.
Theses decisions have consequences and the most recent SOPA protests are yet another inscription on the epitaphs of these corporate monsters.
Appetite for Destruction - Corporate Cannibalization and Major Record Labels
The days of Mall outlets like Record Town and Sam goody, as well as local indie stores are long gone. Even the big box stores that labels whored themselves out to - at a devastating cost to indie outlets - have significantly reduced the retail space for music.
As a result, those seeking all but the most generic of titles have no other place to turn but the digital atmosphere, regardless of preference for the quality and (occasionally) legality of the avenue.
There is also a certain distrust consumers hold towards major label a a result of the way the labels have entered the digital marketplace kicking and screaming. From (1) Price-fixing CD's [after a successful FTC prosecution] (2) the Sony root kit disaster and especially, (3) Major label collusion [and corresponding DOJ investigation] in online music licensing markets; the hesitancy of these companies to embrace digital distribution has been done on the backs of consumers.
Theses decisions have consequences and the most recent SOPA protests are yet another inscription on the epitaphs of these corporate monsters.
Acta est fabula.
(untitled comment)
@fogbugzd: Excellent point r/e the economic characteristics of digital products. IFPI is still struggling with this concept.
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