The End of the Record Label as we Know It

Updated on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 10:41AM by Cheevo

Well, a little bit of travel and then the family getting whacked by what seems like every seasonal virus breeding in the air has sideline me for the last several weeks.

In that time there has been a number of doom and gloom reports and articles on the state of the record industry. None of it is all that surprising. The Yankee Group kicked it off in early January with their report The Rise of Digital Music Means the Demise of the Record Label
From the press release:

"digital revenue (online and mobile) is growing, but is insufficient to offset declining CD sales. Over the course of the next several years, Yankee Group anticipates that music industry revenue will begin to stabilize in the US, though at a lower level than previously seen. By the end of 2007, digital music revenue in the US grew to $1.98 billion, and will reach $5.34 billion by 2012. However, artists will increasingly keep the lion’s share of this revenue as record labels become marginalized."

"Demise" - Really?  I don't know about demise.

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Violinist Tasmin Little giving away her next recording.

Updated on Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 03:13PM by Cheevo

British violinist Tasmin Little will be giving away her next album The Naked Violin  as a digital download. Check out the article on CNet.

From the article: "I've done this with no intention of making money, but I feel very strongly that classical music suffers from misperceptions, and someone should be doing something real about it," Little tols Reauters. I want to make it more accessible without downgrading the product, because you don't need to put a beat to this music to make it work," she added in an apparent reference to popular cross-over acts that blend classical and pop genres. "Just the fact that people can listen to it on a computer means that hopefully they won't feel a need to have an education or be from a particular background or a certain sector of society," she said

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Blogs - Links etc.

I've put up a page of links to blogs and sites that I look to for info in music, media. technology etc. Definetely a work in progress. Am I missing out on a blog or site? Let me know.

Pinning down the RIAA personal copying position

... or attempting to anyway.

The Patry copyright blog has posted an excellent article that attempts to pin down the RIAA's position on the "legality" of making copies of legally obtained recordings for personal use. He digs out testimony from congressional hearings 1n '87 re: DAT recordings (remember when that was the end of the world?) and dissects recent statements on air and published FAQ's to try and pin down an actual clearly stated stance on the subject.

Ultimately Patry calls for a solution that gives "honest people what they want, clear guidance; instead of wasting Congress’s time on gluttonous issues like getting even greater statutory damage awards, why not spend that time drafting a personal use exemption – not fair use guidelines, but a real exemption."

Amen. It is good reading. Check it out. 

Big 3 (well 2.5) and the Record Industry

The record industry reminds me a lot of the auto industry in some respects. They were caught slumbering and running their businesses lazily and with out thought for the future. Now that the "future" has already past so to speak, they are flat footed and reactionary. The big labels all but got rid of their A&R departments years ago and put no thought into new artist development or new mediums to deliver their product to their customers.

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