Music 2.0: Battle of the Business Models (part 1)

Amazing. First of all, really….there is no one business model that fits any industry. We are not dealing with skeleton keys here. Now granted, on certain playing fields i.e., the majors in business, there are different rules that apply. So for the major labels and the big shots of the music industry, I can definitely see their dilemma. Mr. Jobs did not kill the music industry. He presented an option to the industry; Live or Die. Sink or swim. Napster is what put the stake in the heart of the music industry if we want to be technologically honest about it. Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough money to fight the Revolutionary War that they initiated. ( Nor the political clout ). That would’ve been the deciding moment of the state of the industry today. If the music industry would’ve laid aside their greed and instincts for royally screwing any artist who chose to enter their domain and embraced what had been unleashed upon the masses, things would certainly been different. One of the things that I’ve noticed is the generation gap between the Napster Generation and the iTunes Generation. The former has the advantage over the latter business wise. The Napsters were around and lived through the initial Revolution and were front and center to be a part of the Evolution. ( Which was the technology born from the vision of Steve Jobs ). Technology gave birth to a new addition to the music industry called the D.I.Y. – artist, label, promoter,producer, company…you name it. What could be more liberating than that? We now live in a era where every one in the music industry is potentially placed on an equal playing field.