Nice (if not entirely earth-shattering) piece in yesterday's Observer highlighting the need for the music industry to move on from the mass-production/rights enforcement gig that the likes of (poor old) Feargal Sharkey is forced to defend.
As Billy Bragg points out, it really is a matter of rethinking how artists & businesses earn money in this space
I've recently recorded half a dozen new songs – and I gave them away on my website. Meanwhile, I've got six different types of T-shirt that I sell for about £20 a time when you add in postage. I have to say I sometimes wonder what business I'm in.
Chimes squarely with what artists like Trent Reznor have been doing and what commentators like Gerd have been banging on about for ages (also, handily with some work we're doing at the moment with a bunch of groovy cats...more soon)
Put simply:
So you make music or help others do? How are you going to earn money, assuming that much of the recorded stuff is going to be accessed for free? And - btw there's no simple or single answer.
UPDATE: John W's got a nice rumination on this subject here (and link to a good shoe-ing of Bain & Co's analysis on the subject)