Well, no. It really isn't. The music industry is not about to collapse, and if it was, piracy would not be the cause. The real issue, in my opinion, is the lack of ability of the traditional music industry to adapt.
The music industry is famous for claiming the sky is falling. Cassette tapes. CD's. It was the same response. Many vinyls back in the 80's shipped with one of these stickers on them. Such a forward thinking bunch.
Whilst there is ample evidence that illegal digital distribution of music does not hurt record sales, the opportunities being passed up by record companies in online music distribution are the very opportunities that independent artists can exploit.
The traditional business model used by the record companies - record an album, market and distribute it, pocket the sales - is not viable in a digital world in its simplicity. The success of iTunes and similar services have proved that there is a market there for online distribution of digital music, but the growing rate of piracy suggests the medium is not yet meeting the requirements of most users.
In response to this article on The Punch, user Phil posts a concise list of what consumers want:
-Fast downloads
-Good pricing
-Fast to market \ online availability
-Region free \ DRM free \ Limitation free downloads, if I download it I own it and will do with it as I see fit (backups, on laptop and home PC etc)
-Quality, none of the low res BS
-Standard formats, I don't want to view your movies or documentaries via a proprietary viewer with a stream only option.
Rather than try to meet these requirements, record companies have stubbornly refused to amend their business models to be more consumer-focused. Whilst this is unfortunate for consumers of popular music, it provides excellent opportunities for independent artists.
Spend $8,000 recording a quality EP. CrazyDomains.com are currently offering .com domains for $7 per year. UberGobal will host a business website for around $20 a month. Want a professional website designed? Set aside about $2,000. Put all these together and you have a platform to distribute your own music. But $10,000 is a lot of money. How do you make it back?
Independent artists are in a unique situation where they can take advantage of a reasonably new concept; pay what you think it's worth. By hosting their own website for next to nothing and making music available to download for free with optional donations, artists put the ball back in the consumer's court. Despite what record companies would have you believe, most people who download music are not heartless criminals who murder puppies in their downtime and would consent to a small donation in exchange for music.
This is just one example of an alternate business model that could allow independant artists to get their music in to the world and maybe make some cash at the same time. It's not perfect, and it's not the only way, but the time is here for the muso's to take back the industry that has been hamstringing them for so long.
