Highlighted for those who don't have that much time in their hands.
The live music business surpassed in value the recorded music of the UK last year. Calculations presented at the International Live Music Conference on Saturday by Will Page, Chief Economist at the Performing Rights Society,
give solid indication that the future of the music industry is live.
Page has calculated live music to be worth $1.27 billion in 2008, which outdoes the British Phonographic Industry’s trade value of the recorded music business of $1.25 billion. Even though sponsorship was left out of live music and digital licensing left out of recorded music calculations, the trend isn’t going to reverse itself any time soon.
In fact, the music industry players should be well aware, at this point, that
recorded music will eventually be reduced to the status of promotional material, released for free to spread the word about new bands and, more importantly, live performances.
The data shows recorded music projected to be well behind live music in the future. Still, the industry continues to pursue consumers and music services for compensation. Though it might not make much sense, Techcrunch reports that for the industry, “the spreadsheets and financial models dictate that suing customers and partners just makes too much sense.”
Too much sense?
So while sites like Myspace Music, Last.fm and Spotify have to pay substantial streaming fees, other services get sued and lose quality of service, the industry’s spreadsheets say it’s perfectly fine for that to happen? The numbers from the UK point in the direction of music being free in the future, serving only to entice consumers to see bands live.
Live music is the future of the industry, and the proof is that its revenue has exceeded the dwindling profits of recorded music. It’s about time we have access to music without the legal hassle.
Why doesn’t the music industry surrender now?
