I think it is too hard to imagine how the music industry will look like in the next decade. Who knows what new technologies will be invented and new business models will be created for the music records. Since ten years ago, no one can imagine we can watch free videos, programme, movies, TV channels, etc on the internet TV software like PPstream, Xunlei Kankan, Sky TV, etc, in China. And the important thing is that they are legal software.
According to BBC news (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4718249.stm), research suggested, people who illegally shared music files online are also big spenders on legal music downloads. That seems very interesting, but it is the fact. I think the record company should be happy when they see this fact, they should not complain about free download too much. The study found that regular downloaders of unlicensed music spent an average of £5.52 a month on legal digital music. This compares to just £1.27 spent by other music fans. "The research clearly shows that music fans who break piracy laws are highly valuable customers," said Paul Brindley, director of The Leading Question.
All these evidences showed that the record companies should find a good way to change the threats to opportunities. Rather than taking legal action against downloaders, the music industry needs to entice them to use legal alternatives, the report said.
As a consumer, in my opinion, free music is absolutely a good thing for consumers. No matter what ages, sex, habits, nationalities they are. And for the unknown artists without a record contract, and narrow independent record companies, internet offers a perfect platform for them to promote their works. The reason is obvious. But I also do not think the big record companies, megastars will lose in the future, they must find ways to get money. Spotify could be one of the solutions for the big record companies and probably this kind of business model will last for some time (5 years, 10 years…). Or maybe the situation for the music industry in the next decade will be still complex and a mixture. Both free download and paying download will exist, but the difference is the free download become legal. For example, the record companies can offer certain number of music for the consumers to download freely as a reward of buying the megastars’ concert tickets.
I guess the tendency for music industry is downloading music by paying for it. Consumers can get some free music on the internet by big record companies or some related companies’ marketing campaign. Personally speaking, I would rather pay for the record and get the pure music than get free music with ads or some other interruptions along with the music. Think about the time before free download music from the internet, we all paid money for the music tapes or CDs without any complains.
By Qiong Jia
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It is nice that most of profit in legal music industry comes from the illegal downloaders, but do you know that this amount of money belongs to concerts as well or not because in that case, the acquired money doesnt go back to the label recording companies and it means that they will bankrupt in the future.
About the legal free downloading, you have refered to spotify, but in Spotify you cannot download anything, you can just listen to it. but anyway, I agree that they big music recording corporations should change their business models.
Nice essay. I am on your side to support downloading. It's nice you show us the relationship between legal downloading and the illegal one. I think the research about the deep reason of the consumer both spend on legal and illegal music should be considered. if it's a good way to promotion by using free downloading music, maybe the future music industry should be restructured.
While I don't think the music industry will bankrupt by free downloading. I think this industry should reduce the cost, and become a stable industry instead of today's high profitable star industry.
I think i did not make myself clearly for the Spotify thing. I did not really mean refering Spotify to free downloading. I just give an example which the record companies can use, and Spotify is the website where you can listen free music if you can get an invitation from your friend or buy a day pass, or subscribe monthly from the website. And this could be one of the business model used in the next few years. But as Homayoon said in Spotify there is no downloading music, all the musics are online.
And downloading music is another thing, as i said in the last paragraph of the essay, the tendency for music industry is downloading music by paying for it. Compare with Spotify, you pay for it and just have the right to listen but not own the music, i world rather buy the music and keep them as collections.
I think there are many ways for the big record company and megastars to earn money besides the labels. As Shuguo said, the music industry probably not bankrupt by free downloading.It is the truth they met problems right now, so they have to change the way which they worked for the last few years. No industry can survive for ever by using the same business model. Do not forget the golden rule: survival of the fittest.
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