Is The Music Industry Dying?

Here's a look at the state of the music industry today, written by Nate Anderson.

It suggests that

• The major labels are in big trouble (boo-hoo)
• The CD is nearly dead (no big deal)
• The music industry is thriving, if you understand the new economy

I've read a lot of stories like this lately, but this part was particularly fascinating:

An anecdote in a recent Economist perfectly summed up the problems facing the major music labels. After EMI, the smallest of the Big Four, invited a teen focus group to its London headquarters in 2006, it wanted to give the teens something for their time. The response is worth quoting in full.

At the end of the session the EMI bosses thanked them for their comments and told them to help themselves to a big pile of CDs sitting on a table. But none of the teens took any of the CDs, even though they were free. "That was the moment we realised the game was completely up," says a person who was there.

When you can't even give your product away, you're in big trouble. Believe me, I know of what I speak. That $5 I've made from Google ads over the past year isn't exactly paying the bills.

Read the rest of the article here.