This is on of the first articles on this subject I've read from a major news organisation that seems to have been written by someone who has a good grasp of reality.

pca

From the article:

Finally, music just isn't as important to young people as it used to be.

I wonder if that's true? My niece just came to stay with us and all she wanted to do was play her new CD on my computer. At church the youth are all very much into music and talk about it a great deal. Perhaps they are lest interested in music than I was at that age (I bought a new CD at least once a week on tips I’d earned bagging groceries), but I’ve always been more into music than those around me, even now, so it’s hard to tell.

I will say the one thing this article doesn't seem to discuss is the quality of music being put out now. Of course, being in my late twenties I guess that I’ve lost the right to be relevant in this area. Isn't it a law of the universe that once you're no longer a teenager you're supposed to complain about new music, and therefore are not to be taken seriously?

I don't know what it's like in the UK, but this rings particularly true:

With nowhere to get these singles and no desire to buy an expensive CD album just for one song, it is no wonder many fans turn to file-sharing systems.

I have one thing to add, though. Even when (CD and cassette) singles were available, they cost about half what the album would cost for one song, maybe with one or two remixed versions of the same song, and then some album detritus. Or I could buy the album and take a shot at there being one more song on there that I'd like. That line of reasoning led me to the conclusion that buying the single was fiscally stupid, but I didn't have the confidence that the album would contain even one additional track. (I've always had a good ear for one-hit wonders). So I most often ended up buying nothing when I was vaguely interested only in the single (as opposed to the album). In fact, the only singles I ever bought were for albums I really liked so that I could get the B-sides.

And that all ties into price fixing. If they'd sell the damn single for $2 or $3 instead of $7, they might sell more of them, but now it may be too late, as most stores no longer carry singles since they didn't sell.

Here's an extract from a long piece that I submitted in response to an article: "Pirate Plunder Music Market Profits", in the UK press last week, which took the opposite bias to the level headed BBC article:
"We must remember that cassettes were going to kill the music industry, according to its executives, long before the inception of the music centre and the double cassette deck. In the late 60's , the Beatles Apple records adopted a coding system that made LP's not copy on to cassettes, it lasted 2 LP's. Those same Beatles have to take some of the blame for the popularity of pirated CD's by grossly overpricing the reissue of their material on CD. Not that they were alone, it's just that Paul McCartney prevaricated ad nausea about his fans paying through the nose for overpriced CD's and then became amongst the most guilty. Many "fans" will have paid for the copyright twice on their favourite albums, because they already owned the cassette, or LP of the albums that they replaced with CD's

MP3 users do use this technology considerably to make better use of the CD collections that they have legitimately paid for: At any one time, the MP3 player in my car, which is identical in size to a car radio, contains my entire collection of talking books and all my favourite music, amounting to a total of 300 hours. In my house my music collection of around 1200cd's, by use of this digital technology, can be heard in every designated room, without an extensive outlay. These technologies, and particularly responsibly managed internet sites, therefore encourage wider listening and publicity for music, both new and old, without expensive marketing.

I have no truck with CD copying, but MP3 use can be for the benefit of all, if only the music industry realised that; It's there, they can't stop it, so they might as well learn how to live with it, again for the benefit of all, instead of this lock them up and throw away the key approach!"

N.B. I have slanted it to suit the context of the article.

...but MP3 use can be for the benefit of all, if only the music industry realised that...

Indeed... I can honestly say that since purchasing my Rio Central and Empeg I have nearly doubled my entire cd collection. Without the ability to listen to the mp3's I would never have bought that many cd's simply because it's such a hassle to listen to all of those albums. I actually find myself trying to plug holes in my collection by buying all of the cd's of a particular artist without getting any compilations (and wonder how many others would do the same). I would never consider purchasing one song....entire cd's for me please.

If the music industry wants to increase sales AND stifle piracy they need to lower pricing as well as put some interesting reading material in a paper book format in each cd. Or do like metallica did and throwh in a dvd. I'm currently working on my Beatles collection and really enjoy reading the books that come in the Anthology and BBC cd's.

MP3 use can be for the benefit of all

If you want a shining example of this...

I recently sent a song by the Capitol Steps to a fellow pirate who shall remain nameless. (Actually, this song was available as a free download from their website). He liked the song so much that the same day he heard it he went to Amazon.Com and purchased all 23 of their available CDs.

He did the same thing when I sent him an excerpt from Car Talk -- 4 CDs worth this time.

And more CDs yet, when I sent him a skit by a group called "Three Dead Trolls In A Baggie". (The skit is called "Internet Help Desk" and if you look you can find and download a movie of the performance. Highly recommended.)

Clearly sharing MP3s will be the death of the music industry as we know it today. At least, we can sure hope so...

tanstaafl.

Indeed! Sharing MP3s free on the internet is truly the death of the music industry as we know it. All of that material was made freely available by the artist, but if you do not know it exists, you cannot find it. Having / sharing MP3s is a great way to announce your presence to the world, and generate interest that would not have been there before.

The part the RIAA doesn't like is that the buyer can deal directly with the artist (like Three Dead Trolls), and the RIAA does not get a penny!!! Awww.....

I wonder what kind of person would be obsessive enough, and have enough space, to purchase 31CDs, a DVD and a book (for Three Dead Trolls) based on this kind of advice...

I wonder what kind of person would be obsessive enough,

Yeah, I wonder...