Has the internet killed the music industry?
John Mellencamp thinks the internet has killed the music industry and that it’ll also kill the movie industry. Do you agree?
Ol’ Johnny Cougar Mellencamp seems not to like the impact the internet has had on the music industry. According to Reuters, the wrinkly rocker recently said, “I think the Internet is the most dangerous thing invented since the atomic bomb. It’s destroyed the music business. It’s going to destroy the movie business.” Mellencamp also commented on the quality of compressed music:
“He recalled listening to a Beatles song on a newly remastered CD and then on an iPod, and ‘you could barely even recognize it as the same song. You could tell it was those guys singing, but the warmth and quality of what the artist intended for us to hear was so vastly different.’”
Sorry, Cougar, but I think you’re being a bit of a drama queen. Sure, there are risks associated with the internet, but saying that it’s “the most dangerous thing invented since the atomic bomb” is plain silly. Really, it is! And the internet certainly hasn’t killed the music industry. Far from it. What the internet has done is to change the industry, and created new ways in which music can be discovered, promoted, shared and sold. And nor will the internet kill the movie industry. Transform possibly, but not kill. As for compressed music formats being of a reduced quality – well, quelle surprise! MP3, AAC, etc. are lossy compression formats and so, of course, do offer a somewhat reduced sound quality; it’s the trade-off you make in exchange for being able to carry around several thousand tracks on your portable music player.
What do you think? Is the internet the most dangerous invention since the A-bomb? Has it killed the music industry? Or is Cougar crazy?
It’s pretty amazing really – the persistence of those who feel that widely increased access is somehow a reasonable replacement for dollars and cents, or that worldwide access to material will necessarily even contribute to an artists livelihood at all.
This idea that wider recognition through free avenues will intrinsically, much less inevitably, put bread on anyone’s table is a joke. Yes, the internet’s mind-blowing ability to propagate interest is very promising to every artist out there, but…I didn’t eat any promises yesterday, did you?
The question raised here is whether or not the internet is killing the “MUSIC INDUSTRY”…that means dollars and cents. Period. Therefore, the answer is obvious. Did we miss the article wherein the almighty Justin Bieber registered as the #1 selling artist in Canada – with an embarrassingly paltry 60,000 or so in sales. That would have been unheard of even ten years ago. (Or, as the article stated, it was the lowest reported total since ’91 anyway.)
I love the Web; and I discover new music on it all the time. Like a whole lot of people though, I don’t run out and purchase it. Nor will I if I don’t have to. Good business model?…
The internet is not in its infancy anymore. Right now it behaves more like a cranky, whiny, teenager with a false sense of entitlement. At some point it will mature and grow into something viable and sensible, and fulfill its promise. It ain’t happening yet though.
Is the internet the “best thing to happen to music since the radio”. Not even close.
It’s merely the best thing to happen to consumers of music/culture who like free stuff.
Oh, and…
P.S. ‘Word’ to everything Biff said!….Bang on. ;))
It’s 50 50 on the internet killing the music scene, Back then you had less people being heard , and the artist that was heard could sell their music because of less competition, now the web has more people being heard like a sea of music, more competition now, http://www.undadirt.com and youtube/algebra2go rap
Tthe internet killed the music industry because now anybody can become a star. Back then you had to have talent to be discovered. But with the internet now anybody can self promote themselves n become short lived stars. As time proceeds we no longer going to see musicians with longevity because the internet made EVERY one want to be stars.
People are fond of justifying music theft by saying ‘musicians make obscene amounts of money’…. a very small handful do, but the vast majority make absolutely peanuts. Some of these are brilliant artists too. The reality is that most musicians struggle to survive financially if they can even afford to be musicians at all – especially now that hardly anyone buys music anymore.
Internet does kill the music industry……….Where are chart-toppers gone….Have you heard of any quality music since the past 3-4 years…..Why would an artist make an album if he knows that it will be freely downloaded on the internet as mp3 or any other popular format……Come on………Lets not hide the truth…
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