Recording Industry: Beginning of the End?
 

Today may become an historical date in the history of music.

1) Radiohead is offering its new album via download at whatever price you want to pay, DRM free, no big record company involved.

http://www.inrainbows.com

Reports say that the site is being flooded with unanticipated demand, so expect delays.


2) Trent Reznor/NIN become "free agents" with no recording contract.

http://www.nin.com/index.html#4760760856064929357


The RIAA is dead and every big recording company will either adapt or die.

Apple/iTunes and Yahoo!, among others, have and will play a much bigger role in the future of recorded music, IMHO.

FWIW.

Best,

Kurt

...and not a moment too soon...

On top of that, Amazon is beta testing (or maybe it's in release now) it's DRM-FREE download service. You can buy Dark Side of the Moon for $8. Or you can buy the songs for $0.50-$2 each. Different from iTunes, with its copy protection. The concept of the "album" is dead. So the record labels don't get $18 for that one good song on the disc any more.

Not a moment too soon, like Thom says.

I think that music as an art will benefit tremendously. Right now, a band can make an album, set up a website and a server, and sell their music directly.

I will still be buying CDs of bands that truly put out good albums, because MP3s do not sound that great.

My opinion too.

As for NIN, I've been dissapointed by their last two albums, particularly Year Zero. Trent is entering the third decade of his music career, and the music isn't as original as it used to be, IMO.

From my perspective, the RIAA has been dying for years. Before the Internet, I purchased several thousand albums and CDs. In the past ten years or so, I think maybe I've purchased 20. The days of "recording contracts" and depedance upon the RIAA for "success" are long gone....every band that I currently follow & enjoy has thumbed their noses at the industry and imo, good riddance! Can you tell I'm no fan of the RIAA :)?

ps: Big recording will die imo :)

Funny, I think Year Zero is awesome.

I can understand why you wouldnt like it though.

Listening to the new Radiohead as we speak. I paid $8 for it.

iTunes sells DRM free music - from EMI. Apple/Jobs would prefer to sell all music DRM free, but the other biggies won't allow it. EMI is also a DRM free seller on Amazon. Universal is selling DRM free on Amazon as well, but not on iTunes! There is some bad blood between Apple and Universal. It is my opinion that Apple really does want to sell DRM free music and the big labels don't want Apple having so much power. I thinks the toothpaste is already out of the tube for the big labels . . .

There are some caveats to Amazon's DRM free service as well, as most DRM free stuff via big vendors like Apple and Amazon (digital watermarks and such). I do believe these big vendors are all helping to overthrow the big record companies though and I welcome it as well.

Best,

Kurt

It may, but I doubt it.

I think it will find a way to reinvent itself and provide value that is worth paying for. That's just my opinion--but when I hear an industry declared dead, that's usually about the time it gets a second (or third) wind.

They do if they are done correctly, when you lay tracks down in a studio you go from say a Tascam 24 or a digital DM 64 track down to a DA-98 that records 8 tracks at 192khz, the same quality you can get on a compressed MP3.

Older studios actually put the 24 track feed to DAT tape and then off to the cd press, which is why I get a little laugh when people say CD's are truly digital. They are digital playback, but the source is often in question. At any rate with the demand for digital music people like Tascam/TEAC are gearing their equipment for that.

OK, I agree, it will never die, but will become more and more irrelavent as time passes. The RIAA has maintained a "stronghold" over artists due to their control of the "distribution process" of physical media...those days are long gone...thank you Al Gore :)!

but who's going to tell the radio stations what songs to play?

Does anyone still listen to the radio? I haven't in years, and not one of my music loving friends do either...and we're talking about some serious music lovers :)

BTW, the real answer is Clear Channel, just like they've been doing, but they will become more and more irrelevant also :)

For me, turning on the radio has become like flying or going to Walmart.

Just piles and piles of crap, all pushed onto me.

No thanks.

Sirius for me, the music stations are mixed enough for me to be happy and not ever feel the need to buy an album ever again, let alone buy a song online.

I just realized that I lied :). I do listen to the radio (XM radio via DirecTV) at home...the "Bluesville" station is great. I can't recall the last time I listened to an "over the air" radio station...it's been years.

Prince has been doing this for years.... this is pretty much old news.

BTW, iPods have killed the radio. Get with the times.

Good. F*ck the RIAA. They've been f*cking the artists for years. 'bout time some payback was enacted.

I tried the i-pod thing and came to two conclusions.

1. i-pods suck I have 2 of them and they just suck. I tried twice and both of them gave me battery and software problems with the 1st month.

2. I do not have the time nor the patience to sit and catalog all my music on a hard drive and continue to shop for more songs online and update my i-pod.


I can turn on my Sirius receiver or log into my online account at work and never get tired of the variety of music. I even listen to music I have never owned in my life and enjoy it.