Music industry: a finger in the dike and a head in the sand

Instead of the record industry continually fighting against the P2P world, they should see this as an opportunity. I believe the future for the record industry lies in subscription services. For subscription services to work, you must first ask why you need to own an album. After all, how many times have you played that CD before it gathers dust at the back of a cupboard?

Upon signing up to a subscription-based service, you will be issued with proprietary software and a portable playback device. You would then be able to download a certain number of songs based on your subscription fee. When you want to listen to more songs, you will have to return a song for each song booked out, just like borrowing a book from your library. You would not have to worry about continuity. As technology changes, so does the software and portable playback device. As with your current mobile phone plan, at the end of your mobile phone contract, you sign up for another one and get a new mobile phone. The same would apply for subscription services. No more dusty piles of vinyl records sitting in the corner.

A subscription-based service would open up all sorts of possibilities. If you’re in a jazz mood, you can download the most popular jazz songs, or the jazz play list as recommended by leading jazz musicians. You could even download what your favourite celebrity is listening to. The BBC have already begun trials to allow viewers to download TV shows and radio shows seven days after they have aired.

We are at a crossroads. No matter how many lawsuits the entertainment industry initiates, the way we access our entertainment has changed forever. Like all waves, you can either catch it or get dumped by it.