From Ownership to Access

Digital Music News put out this article yesterday that reveals that debut album sales are down 77% from seven years ago. I've been thinking a lot lately about ways that the music industry is going to adapt to new waves of technology. Just this morning I was telling someone how I think Apple's iTunes has the potential to become the authoritative service for music access. And I believe this American Songwriter article shows another step towards it becoming a reality.

In the book The Future of Music, authors Kusek and Leonhard point toward the potential of music being paid for as if it were another monthly utility bill. Music is like water in the same sense that the longer you have the faucet running, the more you pay for it. I think Netflix's streaming service is a great example of this kind of model, and my hope is that a similar music service will become as widely accepted. The sooner more consumers begin paying for music, an increased number of artists will be able to create for a living.

Keep writing (and buying music),

Ben