E-music changes the world in unexpected ways

Picasso - Three Musicians

Mobile Opportunity: Removing the Middleman, Part 2: Music: Former Chief Competitive Officer and VP of Product Planning at Palm Michael Mace (spotlighted in Day 84 of 100 blogs in 100 days), explains and demystifies what is going on in the music business today - this post is a must read if you have a stake as an artist, producer or music industry mogul... check it out.

Michael asserts:

E-music changes the world in unexpected ways

--I think the biggest change happening in music distribution right now isn't piracy, it's cannibalization of CD albums by e-music singles.

--I can't believe I'm saying this, but despite all the hype, the iTunes music store is actually much more powerful than most people realize. I think it may already be too late for any competitor to stop iTunes from becoming the dominant music store in the US.

--The tipping point at which the record companies will become obsolete may arrive in about two years.



I'm interested in how these E-music channels operate, having been old school back in the eighties with my time at Warners with the rise of the cassette and later, the CD. Now in software distribution and familiarity with eBooks and mobile phone distribution - well trust me, you'll want to read the rest of the of the article. Michael does a masterful job of explaining his due diligence and research. Is the future bright for artists, record companies and/or consumers?

The Economist thinks "The internet will eventually be wonderful for music buyers, but it is still a threat to today's dominant record labels"

and...

Some say when it comes to artist's interests, "Apple calls iTunes "revolutionary" but record companies are using the service to force the same exploitive and unfair business model onto a new medium."