Downloading and illegal copying is having a profound negative effect on the music industry. A few days ago I read that the biggest selling CD of 2009 would either be from Taylor Swift or Susan Boyle. Both CDs had around 3,000,000 in sales. That’s nothing compared to sales of the past. I know Britney Spears had an album that sold more than 20,000,000. Sales of around 10,000,000 were common for popular CDs before downloading.
Lots and lots of theft and copyright violation going on.
I’ve listened to tons of copyrighted music just on YouTube. That means there must be a million places out there where you can get it for free and in high quality if you want it. I don’t see how the music industry is going to survive, at least in the area of recorded music. It seems like the only money will be in live performances.
NO, what is ruining the music industry is the promotion of crappy music. Rap, pop, Britney, etc....have been promoted and marketed to kids. Its all about the quick single, not the album. True artists aren’t allowed to develop. U2 would have been finished after their second album “October” in today’s industry. There are ways around this downloading...
It’s virtually impossible to control “mechanical reproduction” with today’s technology. The only way to make the “big money” and actually get paid is through “airplay royalties”. Radio has never really been in the “music business”. They’re in the “selling commercials” business. Even more so today with the total central and corporate control of “playlists and rotations”. That’s why there’s nothing but formulaic crap on the radio. Years ago, radio was at least marginally - on a local level - interested in the music. A person could get a local “jock” to help them “break a record”. At every level, including the outfits like ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, there’s a realization that collecting on “mechanical royalties” is nearly impossible so there’s very little interest in anything but “airplay” crap. The music business has flown up its own butthole.