Music wars ten years on

Take no prisoners, spare no-one

It was 10 years ago that Apple spied an impotent and vulnerable music industry and unleashed a bombardment that swiftly won them the war and made the rest of the music world their unwilling slaves.

Napster had shown big business the way forward by harnessing peer-to-peer file sharing services to distribute music to the world, albeit by using intellectual property without permission.

The incompetence of the big record labels is hard to fathom but they all failed to recognise the power of this technology that allowed music to be digitally distributed.  They had ample opportunity to embrace this new channel and to hold on to control of their intellectual property but they failed miserably.  Instead of understanding what digital services could do to save their debt-ridden companies they tried to stamp on it and pretend it wasn't there. If ever there was a side that deserved to be well and truly trounced, it was the music labels.

Apple was totally merciless in this war and they emerged as the undisputed conqueror.  There was no ceasefire, no clemency, no return of prisoners.  It was an unbridled massacre.  The white flags hoisted by the record industry were a pitiful site.  They had little choice but to let the victor enjoy the spoils - the right to distribute and take the lion's share of profits from the world's treasure trove of digital music.  Physical music media died on that battlefield.  The future was in digital, not physical distribution.

Streaming services offer hope

Now that memories of the carnage are fading into history and the smoke is finally clearing, there is some hope for a fairer digital future. New providers have emerged from the rubble,  prepared to provide a vast catalogue of music to subscribers, either for a very reasonable monthly charge or totally free if listeners are prepared to listen to few adverts.  Spotify, Rdio and Pandora, amongst others, are the bright lights of this new breed of streaming digital providers.  They have the potential to redress the balance and give consumers some modicum of choice in where they get their music fix.

I don't know if these companies will compensate the artists any more equitably than they are currently but they will surely provide the consumer with a much fairer way to enjoy music.

Losing ground to the streaming services (BusinessWeek)