The future of music is digital downloads?
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I would like to start this article with a question..
When was the last time you bought a music cd? (not a pirated one :P).
Im sure most of you cant remember.. And those who of you who do are either staunch anti piracy supporters or are just plain ignorant when it comes to keeping with the times!
So the music industry has been suffering ever since the internet and P2P file sharing hit the world. So earlier it was Napster and today you can download and share music on softwares like bearshare and limewire. Also people have moved on to an ipod or other mp3 players from a discman.
And looking at this change of trend in the way users acquire and consume their music the music industry is finally giving in to the digital change thats sweeping away their market. So here are the first two signs of offline players acknowledging the digital age.
1) Planet M to enable digital downloads in Stores - This move is happening because Planet M is facing loses due to low sales of CD’s. Its hoping that with digital download people will be more willing to frequent their stores and buy digital downloads. Planet M operating business head, Mumbai Amod Naik says, “We are working on the concept at present. The idea is to walk hand in hand with the trends and digital music is the future. With the augment of digital downloading, the sales of CDs, especially Bollywood, are going down. Hence, we need to work around the new concepts of music, as that’s our forte.”
I think they would be going ahead with kiosks at their outlets to enable digital downloads. Though its a good move i doubt how many would actually buy songs in a time and age where songs are available so freely online.
2) T-Series launching online store for digital downloads. - TSeries one of the biggest music companies in idnia is planning to launch a online digital music download store. So if PlanetM is looking at leveraging offline network Tips is showing confidence in the feasibility of the online space. T-Series vice president marketing and promotions Vinod Bhanushali says, “The web store will have digital music downloading options along with different types of ringtones. Users will have to pay a particular price for the tracks and they can own the product.”
I guess the story remains the same.. How many users would pay for the downloads? When is so freely available for free?? I think the music industry and players like tips and planet m need to reinvent their approach and though this move by both of them is a good one they still need to figure out their revenue model which would work.
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About an yr ago there was a lot of discussion on this.. The future definitely lies in live music, you n me who mind paying 300 bucks for a CD of XYZ artist won't really mind paying 500 to see them play live.. more n more bands are adopting this strategy and earning most of their money through gigs.. and newer bands have started to give away their recorded music for free..
like any other thought even this mentality would take a lot of time to come to india..
but the question is, do we need record labels any more..??
I think Itunes has been quite a success even with the availability of other pirated songs. Its about the mentality and conscience of people, which you cannot change. If softwares go out, people will start ripping songs and will start emailing each other
Unless the price becomes really cheap, which probably itunes has done for the US market. If a bollywood songs costs around Rs 5 or 10, a lot of people would buy it, not if only the cd is available and that too for Rs 100.
I think you're jumping in your first . Thousands of music lovers buy and collect original CDs across the world… just like they buy DVDs for movies for their collection. And its not because they're ignorant or whatever. CDs are convenient and easily purchased - sure for geeks/ bloggers and others who spend most of their day online it might be more convenient to download them. Though the pricing for CDs in insane and will eventually come down before they completely disappear.
There is a demand for physical product still. In the UK at least the demand for vinyl singles has increased along with USB sticks which are premium priced products.