Since the advent of the compact cassette player in the 1970’s, the music industry has been fearful of technological advancement and has resisted change. Condry has commented that the US and Japan - two of the world’s largest recording industries are currently in trouble, partly due to the rise in digital downloads. The logic is supposedly ‘unassailable’ - if music is free, no one will pay for it. If no one pays, artists and producers will stop creating music. Arguably, rather than signalling the end, it’s making artists challenge the economics of the industry. Radiohead’s ‘pay what you want’ experiment with the release of ‘In Rainbows’ demonstrated that most fans were willing to pay the normal retail price for the album. Prince caused uproar by giving his last album away free with a copy of the Daily Mail. Perhaps the primary role of the industry is shifting - the live music scene is booming - ticket and merchandise sales are constantly rising. Maybe this is where their primary responsibility will sit with the artists going forward?
Perhaps the recording industry is concerned that its position will be marginalised and that of the artist strengthened? Does Condry's article not suggest that while piracy exists in Japan it tends not to be the result of downloading?
ReplyDelete