Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the music recording industry and how it has been impacted by digital music distribution. The paper relates that the early success the music labels had against the initial music file downloading sites were short lived, and legitimate digital downloading sites have since prospered. The paper then argues that major recording labels are suffering from the decline in CD sales, not because of music pirating, but because they refuse to recognize that consumers demand digital music downloading for its convenience and portability. The paper further emphasizes that digital music distribution and retailing is the future of the music industry and every relevant party seems to recognize this, except the music industry itself.

Outline:
Overview
Restructuring of the music Industry
New distribution model & Itunes
Online distribution variations
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The music industry, in spite of its ineptitude and obstinacy over the past decade regarding digital music downloading, is finally realizing that whether it embraces downloading services such as iTunes and others, it must evolve with the digital age or face irrelevance. In order to compensate for the loss of revenues, the recording music industry has been examining their base revenues in order to determine if digital downloads can compensate completely for the decline in sales of CDs. Two of the major record labels, Sony and BMG, have even merged in order to expand their catalogues (Recording, 2007). There have been efforts made to encourage EMI to merge with one of the remaining three major record labels but thus far these remaining major record labels have resisted further consolidation. However, EMI undertook its own internal restructuring by merging its two main record labels in the US market during the first half of 2007 and Warner Music was sold during 2004 creating even more churn in the industry (Recording, 2007). Yet, perhaps the most visible change is the industry is the downsizing or disappearance of retail music stores, which has begun to accelerate."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Age of the Free Music Download Has Arrived; but There's One Catch . . . It Won't Work on Your iPod. (2006, August 30). The Daily Mail (London, England), p. 8.
• Barrow T. & Newby J. (1999). Inside the Music Business. Routledge; New York.
• Dennis, C., Fenech, T., & Merrilees, B. (2004). E-Retailing. New York: Routledge.
• Drew, R. (2005). Mixed Blessings: The Commercial Mix and the Future of Music Aggregation. Popular Music and Society, 28(4), 533+.
• Lemley, M. A., & Reese, R. A. (2004). Reducing Digital Copyright Infringement without Restricting Innovation. Stanford Law Review, 56(6), 1345+.

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