On the cusp of a golden age of music

In a world where there can be instant availability of all music, the major labels want to sell CDs. They’re afraid to piss off Wal-Mart, and they’re sacrificing their audience to other forms of media. The transition to digital distribution is wrenching. But you’ve got to see the opportunities. Believe me, if Spotify launched its free version in America, there’d be instant hysteria. Akin to the early days of Napster.

Don’t think Spotify doesn’t pay for the music. It does. It’s just banking on building a bigger business, willing to lose money now in order to make tons tomorrow. The music business is unwilling to risk, labels and publishers are desperately trying to keep their old creaky business model functioning. This is a recipe for death. We’re on the cusp of a golden age of music. The only people standing in the way are us.

(via Lefsetz Letter – More E-Books)

My girlfriend got me started reading the Lefsetz Letter a couple weeks ago and it’s already paying off in spades. This guy gets it, just like everybody else except, well… the guys running the music industry.

Every week I want an e-book reader more and more. Just reading about the Kindle makes me want to read more books.

For all-you-can-eat music, I’ve been using Rhapsody for years. It works well enough, but it isn’t ideal. I really can’t wait to see what Spotify has to offer when the stodgy old guys finally realize it isn’t going to kill their already-dying industry.

My girlfriend was a music business major. She has gone (and continues to go) to many seminars and panels on the current state of the industry. Almost every industry guest speaker that came in told her and her classmates, “Hey, we messed up the industry and we don’t know how to fix it, so it’s up to you guys to figure that out.” One time, after hearing maybe the tenth guest speaker say this, my girl stood up and said, “So why don’t you quit so we can have your job?” Tally one more on the “reasons I love this girl” board.