First of all, ten years is a long time. Maybe not for a Redwood tree or a character in Lord of The Rings, but to the rest of us it adds up to a quite substantial amount of time. Ten years ago the internet was something new and exotic – now it is in our everyday life. Back then the record companies made staggering profits and thought that the future (and probably the world) belonged to them. Now they are a text book example of myopic thinking and students all over the world are taught about how dangerous it is not being able to adapt to the changing markets and names as EMI and Universal are benchmark for how things shouldn’t be done.
Okay, that was a brief history lesson, now what about the future? Just a couple of weeks ago I received an invitation to try a new service called Spotify. It utilizes streaming technology and consequently requires that you are online in order to use it. I believe like Chris Anderson that in the future wireless internet will be as widespread as the Paris Hilton-cult. Almost everywhere in the Western world there will be accessible wi-fi and thus Spotify is something that has the potential to become the future of music. I do feel that there are some things that need to be taken care of. One thing is the limited selection presented in the service. Spotify has not a single Beatles’ album on it is servers and Beatles is regarded as the best band ever. However, if the managers for Spotify can ensure a supply of almost all the music I really think that this is the way to go.
How should we listen to it? Well I think that the telephone is the way to go, just as Apple has shown with its iPhone. It is possible to combine both the music and communication function as long as the battery issue can be sorted out (now the limited battery life is a problem), but I am sure that within the next ten years someone smart will have come up with an answer for that problem too.
Last but not least musicians have to get paid and my suggestion here is that they should get paid in relation to how much they get played. If their songs are popular on the likes of Spotify they should get more, if not so much they should get paid less. The billing procedure should be as simple as possible, so I think that the wi-fi suppliers should do it. Hence the Spotify fee should be included in what you pay for your internet connection. If you don’t want to use Spotify you shouldn’t have to pay for it.
By: Johan Östberg
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I totally agree that the future lies in online media industry, so no need to buy or download a music, you can just listen to whatever you want online whenever you want and wherever you are.
I also agree about the model that you mentioned for the musicians, but do you think that the label records will do that? since their profits is decreasing, they do not allow this to happen. but, anywya, maybe in their new business model they can find some ways to do it.
I also agree that the trend of the future music will be online streaming service as youth and new generation people ( as the main media consumers ) are connecting their life with the internet and becoming online/active users. In ten year, the technology should be far developed that accessibility to the internet wouldn’t be an issue anymore. Record companies should see this opportunity and develop a business model to suit this changing environment. I have noticed that the online music stores are not really making money or successful so the record companies should not head for it. I agree with you that the streaming technology like Spotify will be a future but I’m quite curious in your idea that the wi-fi suppliers should be responsible for the service fee. Why should Spotify deal with the internet providers while they can also make money by charging subscription fee or selling different campaigns directly on the website? How come the users should decide whether they want to use the service at the time they purchase the internet package?
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