The Death Of The Record Industry

[DudeAsInCool]

In a two-part series, Rolling Stone takes a look at the decline of the record industry, what went wrong, and how they sealed their own demise:

"For the music industry, it was a rare bit of good news: Linkin Park's new album sold 623,000 copies in its first week this May -- the strongest debut of the year. But it wasn't nearly enough. That same month, the band's record company, Warner Music Group, announced that it would lay off 400 people, and its stock price lingered at fifty-eight percent of its peak from last June.

...The major labels are struggling to reinvent their business models, even as some wonder whether it's too late. "The record business is over," says music attorney Peter Paterno, who represents Metallica and Dr. Dre. "The labels have wonderful assets -- they just can't make any money off them." One senior music-industry source who requested anonymity went further: "Here we have a business that's dying. There won't be any major labels pretty soon."

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Photo Source: Rolling Stone.com

[method77]

nice article

[Excrement_Cranium]

The number of bands signed to labels has been compromised in a pretty severe fashion, roughly a third.

Bullshit. Don't blame downloading for that. That shit was happening before downloads boomed.

Blame bigger hands reaching into a smaller pot. Mergers will fix nothing. Mergers are the problem.

Economically, competition drives profit. You have to have a market, and a diverse market, which keeps people interested. No matter how good your product is, if people aren't interested in the market, they won't buy.

Competition keeps people interested, and drives a push for distinction and quality. Quit merging, support independent labels and artists, and QUIT SUING YOUR CUSTOMERS!