Two out of three, as the song says
CD sales in the US are down about twenty percent. If you’re thinking “Oh, that’s bad,” Bill Wyman says no, that’s good:
Why is this good news? Because the record industry is built on three pillars of corruption, on which it built an edifice (the manufacture and promotion of physical CDs) that is no longer needed. One of the unappreciated side effects of the digital revolution in the media space is its contribution to a drop in white-collar crime.
In the radio world, the record industry used payola for decades to get radio airplay; with radio’s influence waning and industry earnings dropping, those days seem to be over. In retail, price-fixing was the norm; now the prices are being fixed (lower than what they might otherwise be) for a format (the single) the industry stopped selling to force people to buy full-length CDs, all by a guy (Steve Jobs) who doesn’t even work in the biz!
But it’s not all unicorns and teabiscuits just yet:
The third pillar is relations with artists, whom the labels have screwed on royalty payments, virtually with impunity, since the dawn of the modern industry. I assume this activity continues.
There really isn’t a whole lot of reason to think it doesn’t.
Adam »
6 January 2009 · 8:27 am
On the other hand, a Creative Commons licensed-album just topped the sales at the Amazon mp3 store for 2008.
fillyjonk »
6 January 2009 · 10:27 pm
Off topic, but “Unicorns and Teabiscuits” would make an awesome name for a retro-bubblegum-pop band, especially if they had British influences.
Old Grouch »
6 January 2009 · 10:44 pm
I was thinking more new-age acoustic, with maybe a Celtic bent. Harps, irish pipes, wind chimes, and ocarinas. Specialty: Instrumental Sally Oldfield covers.
CGHill »
7 January 2009 · 7:27 am
Adam: I was one of the buyers of that CC-licensed album.