Is the music industry finally getting the hint? That’s apparently the case as Warner Music boss Edgar Bronfman recently expressed his regret in attacking the very consumers keeping his business alive. 

At the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress, Bronfman warned mobile operators to avoid the same mistakes the music industry made. The Warner boss had the following to say according to MacUser:

"We used to fool ourselves. We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won."

Bronfman is definitely turning heads as the RIAA continues to sue its own customers. The situation is so ridiculous between artists, record labels, and customers that many musicians would rather support piracy in order to destroy record labels. They see the labels as evil and only take part in the traditional music business model because it’s the only way of successfully selling music.

Artists such as hip hop star Immortal Technique are looking to change the music world by giving away music for free while giving listeners the option to pay if they choose to. Radiohead took a similar approach with the release of its latest album, and Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor also agrees that the traditional method of music distribution is obsolete.

"…[T]hat infrastructure is broken at the moment. How long before [record companies] are irrelevant? Who knows? They seem to be doing everything they can to make sure that happens as quickly as possible.”

It seems the record industry is finally getting the hint, and Bronfman should be commended for being the first to speak out. Unfortunately for his case, record labels only exist as the necessary middlemen between artists and listeners, but, with technology being what it is today, all an artist needs in order to release an album is a computer and the services of a cheap, rented server. That begs the question: How much time does the old model have left?

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 4:52 pm under Cell phones, Internet, Legal, Music, Technology, Web2.0.  Print This Post

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