Hi Chris

I feel that the whole music industry will have to reinvent itself. There will be new models that take advantage of new technologies. Additionally, I feel that P2P has to be licensed, and the pay may not be what it used to be. Not as much of the money pie will go to corporate profits, as you will see some do-it-yourselfers and some artists owning their masters.

It is obvious that digital downloading is transforming the music business as we know it. The digital music revolution is altering the industry model in many ways. Among these changes are as follows: 

• The digital downloading revolution is transforming the music business into a service business. No longer will we see the music industry as the selling of goods, but rather, as the provision of a distribution service. 

• Artists are faced with "free agency" for the first time ‚ analogous to the movie studio systems. This sets the tone for new business models in the music industry. In essence, Artists are becoming clients of the online distributors, as opposed to employees of record labels. 

• The collection of data is one of the most important functions of downloading sites and providing an incredibly valuable function in the future. It gives the bands a long-term connection to the fans. Also allowing for direct marketing and cross promotion. We might also see the artist's statistics becoming valuable in negotiation of a record deal ‚ perhaps record labels will want to see the artist's "stats" before they are signed.

All of this talk about the revolution of the industry may lead one to believe that record labels will become obsolete in the coming years. The consensus among industry experts is definitely that this will not be occurring. Rather, I see record, publishing and management labels will be performing an even more important function in the future -  merging as one to become entertainment companies.

Very interesting and relevant interview! 

cheers
Joni Mallett
Schott Music