The digital revolution is upsetting the mass media. From movies to news, from books to music, the way we consume media has changed over the last 10 years.
The music industry is in turmoil and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has a tenuous relationship with consumers at best. The old model is not working anymore; the industry is hemorrhaging money and drowning as consumers continue to flock to new formats.
Despite the apparent war against consumers for file sharing and supposed piracy, the fact remains that the vast majority of people still purchase their music, in music shops and through digital downloads. In fact, digital sales make up approximately 10 percent of all music sales in the US with Apple iTunes (NASDAQ:APPL) as the No. 2 music retailer next to Wal-Mart.
While there are still plenty of people purchasing CDs, the digital market is growing by leaps and bounds, particularly among people between the ages of 35-50. One draw of purchasing music digitally is definitely the ability to choose to buy one song at a time as opposed to buying an entire album.
According to PC World nearly 50 percent of US teens only purchased songs individually and about 1 million buys left the CD buyer market. And this trend is growing.
I believe there are several reasons for the shifting music industry paradigm. According to the Wall Street Journal the decline in music sales – CD sales in particular – can be attributed largely to downfall of boutique music retailers. In 2006 alone, about 800 music retailers closed their doors, including all 89 of the “long time music mecca” Tower Records locations. Yowza!
Digital music is definitely empowering the consumer. No longer do people have to fork over their hard earned cash for an entire album when all they really want is one song. I’m sure I’m not the only person frustrated with the mediocrity of mainstream music. Unless I’m a die-hard fan of an artist, or reviewing the album, I’m not too keen on buying an entire album at the risk of it being lackluster and a waste of my money. I do like having CDs, but with the skyrocketing prices, I’ve only purchased one CD in the last year.
It’s time for the music industry to evaluate their practices and business model. Obviously, the ship is sinking and they can either sink with it, or adapt and swim. There will always be music lovers, just as there will always be news readers. The challenge for the music industry is figuring out how to align itself with the consumer empowerment and work harder to produce music worth listening to.
Currently the RIAA is warring against the very people who line their pockets, and this fight is bound to backfire.
