[In this the third and final entry in our
look at the online music mark-up we examine the music industry’s drastic
paradigm shift, one that marks a complete inversion of their business model
nearly since the inception of the market itself. Part I Part II]
Once upon a time new releases were some of
the cheapest albums in the store. But if you wanted a CD that was on the top
ten charts five years ago it would cost nearly triple that of the current
number one album. That model was adopted because they were selling you albums
based on the principle that it was a gateway to a whole lifetime of dolling out
cash for chart topping hits and for some classic, tried and tested albums. Get
into the chart-toppers, the real popular stuff and once you’re hooked the
industry has a subscriber for life. But for the most part, the majority of
North Americans are already hooked (due in no small part to the internet, I
might add). And nowadays, with iPods abound, music not only sells itself, but
other products as well (as evidenced by the mad rush to build an mp3 player into
almost every portable electronic device imaginable). And now that we’re hooked,
the industry is introducing a new pricing scheme: pay for what’s popular.
The gateway drug has become itself the de
facto commodity of choice; music has become so culturally relevant that it’s
becoming a natural born addiction. And now the industry, faced with one of the
greatest means of disseminating their art, are going to exploit that relevancy for
all its worth, despite the fact that that means is also capable of bankrupting
their entire market.
Surely the irony that the internet not only
provides labels with a means of tracking and exploiting popularity but also
enables users to pirate those very same tracks cannot be lost on those calling
the shots. But here we are watching the price of digital music surge during a
recession. One would have hoped for a more subtle, moderate response from the
labels but instead we received a 30% mark-up across all retailers and a very
stern warning; making it easier to pirate music cost us all 30¢ on the dollar.
Well, not all of us. Just those of us honest enough to pay for it in the first
place.
