By picking a topic as current in the Music Industry as 360 degree deals, I have a plethora of articles and blog posts to choose from in my research, but unfortunately very few books or scholarly sources. Indie music blogs such as Pitchfork, give me a lot of very biased (maybe not so credible) mini-posts to choose from that support my "Corporations are evil..." argument, while articles from popular music magazines like Spin, Rolling Stone, and the all-knowing Billboard can give me the perspective of the majors and industry insiders. And Gerd Leonhard's Music 2.0 is so idealistic and different from anything else I have, I am starting to question my faith in the Music Industry!
After reading all of these sources, I kind of get the impression that the industry (mainly the record business and labels), as a whole is very unsure and scared about what may come next, mp3s and other digital downloads are killing their business and they need to come up with a new model soon, before they are completely wiped out. 360 degree deals are sort of a desperate attempt for the industry to make more money from their artists in other ways than just record sales.
What I think needs to happen, in order for the music industry to do well in the future, is for a new business model to come out. Fans won't be fooled by 360 degree deals for long, soon they will hate the overkill of artist branding and merchandising. People will begin to crave music that is quality, and the business needs to remember that. Everybody is all over the place right now, trying to find a way to make a quick buck, but these tactics will hurt them in the end. Seriously, 50 cent, Vitamin Water?? Seriously? There went all of your street cred...
Leonhard's vision of the future of music industry looks more appealing to me each day, as does the Radiohead model (see first post). Everything is becoming "open" as Leonhard says, and music needs to jump on the Web 2.0 bandwagon. Leonhard claims that sharing and networking is what is going on today, and we should not stop that in music (also licensing should be bundled in the network). I personally agree, and believe that in sharing music people will get exposed to more kinds of music that they would never have heard without sharing and the Internet. If not free downloads, than full official streams of songs available for anyone to listen to. Exposure to music in this way, will cause the listener (if they like the artist) to be more likely to go to their concert, buy their merchandise, and maybe even buy a hard copy of their CD/Vinyl if they REALLY like them!
The Music Industry has a history of being scared of technology and the future, this same thing happened with cassette tapes and tape recorders, but on a much smaller scale. I think that if they embrace technology and look at the positive sides of sharing, they can still do well, and find other less tacky ways of making money from their artists. There will be more users, more music, and more happiness!
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