Posts by Rory Koehler

What?

I'm not really sure what I've just read. The music business is thriving. Perhaps you are only talking about the record (content) business. This, it is true, is going through some drastic changes. It is time for the industry to become customer facing. The consumers have been empowered by the internet. The consumer is king. They do what is best for them. Record labels and copyright holders don't have a God given right to make profit. If the environment changes they have to adapt or become extinct. Natures law. A blanket license would be great. Of course the governments should intervene as the large copyright holders can't sort it out between themselves, as they have now proven. Free markets have their pitfalls too even if we don't like to admit it. Maybe the majors should go cap in hand for a billion dollar bail out and with continue their uninnovative and narrow mind sets. A content tax on ISP & MSP fees, to create a pool of money for recorded music, would sort it once and for all and then we could all get on with our lives.

Time for the labels to think outside of the box. They have to realise that the game has changed for ever. As far back as 1985 business strategy guru Micheal Porter suggested that the information revolution would create new linkages across previously unrelated industries and in the extreme cases cause a redefinition of certain industries. The record industry is one of them. Apple have beaten everyone to it long long ago when labels were squabbling with their customers in the courts. They brought out the iPod and iTunes. iPods rely on illegally downloaded music for sales but just in case they provided iTunes as a smoke screen which also happens to make them a decent profit for virtually nothing. They also started investing heavily into ISP's and developed the new iPod replacement the iPhone. They realised that there was no money left in recorded music copyright owning from a consumer sales orientated perspective and then duly placed themselves at all points on the value chain where there was a profit to be made. Now they are kings. This related diversification strategy has been proven genius. Perhaps if the majors hadn't squandered their capital reserves on court cases against 8 year olds and had instead also invested heavily in the content delivery value chain they would not be in the situation they are in. Now it is too late perhaps, so the only thing for it is to change to a 360 strategy and accept that content development is a necessary evil marketing cost, unless of course a change of heart leads to the acceptance of the ISP tax blanket license.