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)

Twitter Music

It seemed that not so long ago New Zealand was a forgotten group of islands in the South Pacific, at least as far as the big internet music services went.  As a music fan I was pretty miffed that streaming services like Pandora and Spotify were freely available in North America and Europe yet we had a few pitiful local offerings that don't cut the mustard.

Bricks and mortar records stores are all but gone in New Zealand, the commercial radio selection is frankly so awful I avoid them for fear that my brain may atrophy.

Twitter launches #music

Then all of sudden, Spotify arrived, and Pandora, Rdio too.  What a treat for music starved Kiwis.  There's been a flood of music possibilities recently.  We're no longer forgotten.  Now we also have Twitter launching their #music service.  It's not even like we're getting it later than the rest of the world - from what I can see it's launching in NZ at the same time as in the major markets.

I like the idea of Twitter music.  They've teamed up with Spotify, Rdio and iTunes to  help their followers find the music they like best.  It makes use of your Twitter profile to identify music artists that you follow - it's common for many Twitter fans to follow at least one music artist.  Although other outfits have tried to use social media for music Twitter has the vast established user base to actually make it work.  An instant audience in the hundreds of millions.

Currently Twitter #music is available through your favourite browser or on your smartphone (unfortunately only on iOS as a dedicated app, not Android yet).

With all of this great music waiting to be heard there's really no need to make do with the swill coming over the commercial airwaves, is there?


Spotify or iTunes for Twitter music followers? (TechRadar)

Early review of Twitter music (Telegraph UK)

Helping fans to find their favourite music (Guardian UK)

Top of the social media charts - who is most popular?