Music industry is dying
Published:Monday | January 3, 2011 | 12:00 AM
The Editor, Sir:
Things in life are changing and at a very rapid pace. Soon, many of the things we treasure, enjoy and take for granted will be consigned relics of the past. Imagine a world without the post office, the cheque, newspapers, books, landline telephones and the music industry as we know it. Unthinkable a decade ago, the rapid advancement in technology has ushered in an era of smartphones, GPS and other mind-boggling gadgetry welcom-ing mankind into the future of the present.
Of interest is the music industry, which experienced great growth in the rock'n'roll era of the 1960s and had its greatest days in the prolific 1970s, is dying a painful, slow but natural death and is soon to become a historical muse of a past era according to the following revelations. This not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing.
Over 40 per cent of the music purchased today is 'catalogue items', meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with - older, established artistes. This is also true on the live concert circuit.
This fascinating but disturbing picture is the subject of the book Appetite for Self-Destruction by Steve Knopper, and further disclosed in the video documentary Before the Music Dies.
Another thing or condition that will be a relic of the past is privacy.
I am, etc.,
CLAUDE WILSON