The Future of the Music Industry
The cover story of Prospect Magazine’s Aug. 2007 issue, “Off the Record” (http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=9735), describes the changes that the music industry has been undergoing. We all know that CD sales have been dropping precipitously, but the article makes a perhaps surprising observation: concert attendance is on the rise. (According to the article, this is so much the case that some bands are beginning to use CDs as mere promotional tools instead of trying to make a profit off them.) This trend is somewhat reassuring: In a world that is increasingly becoming virtualized, people still retain an interest in experiencing real, live music-which, as those of us who are music-lovers know, can never be paralleled by mere recordings. Perhaps there is hope for us after all.
Overall, the article is a very intelligent read, and I recommend it.