Product Description

For the next generation of players and downloaders, a provocative scenario from a music industry think tank. From the Music Research Institute at Berklee College of Music comes a manifesto for the ongoing music revolution. Today, the record companies may be hurting but the music-making business is booming, using non-traditional digital methods and distribution models. This book explains why we got where we are and where we are heading. For the iPod, downloading market, this book will explain new ways of discovering music, new ways of acquiring it and how technology trends will make music "flow like water," benefiting the people who love music and make music.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81992 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 197 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In what could be one of the most provocative music books published this year, two innovators in music technology take a fascinating look at the impact of the digital revolution on the music business and predict "a future in which music will be like water: ubiquitous and free-flowing." Kusek and Leonhard foresee the disappearance of CDs and record stores as we know them in the next decade; consumers will have access to more products than ever, though, through a vast range of digital radio channels, person-to-person Internet file sharing and a host of subscription services. The authors are especially good at describing how the way current record companies operate - as both owners and distributors of music, with artists making less than executives - will also drastically change: individual CD sales, for example, will be replaced by "a very potent 'liquid' pricing system that incorporates subscriptions, bundles of various media types, multi-access deals, and added-value services." While the authors often shift from analysts into cheerleaders for the über-wired future they predict - "Let's replace inefficient content-protection schemes with effective means of sharing-control and superdistribution!" - their clearly written and groundbreaking book is the first major statement of what may be "the new digital reality" of the music business in the future. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

The Future of Music
This is a polemic with both feet on the ground. For such a small volume, it carries a great deal to think about although much of that thought will be utopian. There are a few, but too few, ideas about how to bridge the gap from the "old" ways of doing business and the "new" ways of doing future enterprises. In my opinion, technology is an opportunity, not an answer.
I would suggest to get a better picture of what is going on in the music business, one should read both Don Passman's book and The Future of Music. The music industry models that are sketched here are exciting and provocative but the realities of business will remain: those with the greatest investment in the industry will not give way to the young Turks without a significant fight. The Future of Music is a manifesto that urges the young and/or the brave to join the revolution.
Viva la revolucion!

Meh
This was by far the worst book I've ever read. Irrelevant quotes from famous people that aren't necessarily educated on the topic, extremely redundant, real basic info without any straight answers, some hypothetical situations that aren't pertinent to it, it's just 200 pages of fluff. If you've never once thought about the future of music then maybe this would give you an idea of what's happening.

Good read,
This is a good read for musicians and producers alike. It gives an insight into the prospects of the future of music, but it lacks the practical advice of The Future of the Music Business.