Gdovin.net

The music industry as we know it is in shambles and the way it currently operates is no longer viable or logical anymore. In the next ten years or less, the entire industry will operate under a totally different model and will be much better for the artists and the listeners. This new model is as follows, first there are no record labels music will be produced directly by the artists and their own crews although they may rent studio space for recording so the quality remains the equivolent with what is on the rest of the market. The music will then  be distributed over digital music stores only, no more CDs and records at the same prices as they are now and all tracks will be DRM free. But, since they don’t have to pay the record label more of the money will be given to the artists. The artists may also adopt the free download model, like Nine Inch Nails, or the donate what you think the albulm is worth model like RadioHead.  This would, I think provide more money to the artists because they don’t have to all that money to the record labels. I think this new model will be much more efficent than the current music industry and would make it more fair to listeners and artists.

Digital music downloads have redefined the music industry and although this is much better for the consumer, the record labels are still trying to stick with their old methods that drive consumers to piracy. I believe that there are several methods the record labels need to adopt in order to save the industry and their business or record labels will become a thing of the past.

1. Abandon DRM

People have said for quite some time they want no restrictions on the music they bought legitimatly and they are just being treated like trash by the record labels. Amazon MP3 was the first to sell DRM-free Mp3s and iTunes recently went DRM free as well. People just want simple music files!

2. Let People Rip their CDs

When people bought CDs in their prime, they did not have any idea computerize media would become so prominent and why should people pay again for their music instead of just ripping, copying from disk to computer, and use them on their digital devices. The law around this has been a gray area for way too long and this needs to end because people should be allowed to copy music they legally own.

3. Let the Artist Choose the Price and Distribution Model

Several artists have chosen to distribute their music for free over the internet, and have let people try their music before they buy it and if they pay they get to choose the price. The two leaders of this movement were Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails. Radiohead also, distributed MIDI files of some of their sonegs so that listeners can make their own remixes and mashups. They also created the model of picking your own price and being able to buy if first for free and then go back and pay what you want.

These three practices will save the record industry and could restore faith of the consumers. This can save a large industry that has been poorly managed for a long time.

Yesterday, Apple unveiled their newest version of the iPod Shuffle  and just to preface this review, I have never been a major fan of the iPod Shuffle and am a very satisfied iPod Touch user and do not think the shuffle is what I would need. Despite all this, I will give a fair  review of the new product top help my readers get a fair  picture. 

The new  iPod Shuffle has a new capacity of 4 Gigabytes, which holds about 1,000 songs. The price has also gone up to $80, a  $30 difference  over the old price. The design has been reverted back to the original “Stick of gum” design and has moved the controls onto the headphones which I do not understand why they did that. The only new feature they added was Voice-over, which allows your  ipod shuffle to read the name and the artist of the songs before they play so that you  know  what song  is coming up, this also works on playlists which is great. The shuffle also allows you to use multiple playlists and with voice-over, you can choose the playlist  you want. 

All-in-all, I guess the  iPod Shuffle is a good entry level iPod  although I would recommend getting a Nano, Classic  or Shuffle that has a larger capacity and a screen.  However, on the  other hand the voice-over feature has replaced  many of the functions of a screen but, I like more features. I was surprised  at the price jump they made because Apple usually  updates features and keeps prices the same but they practically doubled the price this time. All-in-all the iPod  Shuffle is a great basic  music player although I doubt it will continue in the current fashion much longer. 

There are numerous websites that allow a user to stream music over the internet and listen to more music than the azverage listener owns. However, with the current technology we have I do not think this will become a standard method of listening because most people like to own their songs and albulms.

This new model would allow people to listen to as much new music as they want for a flat fee. However, what if people are somewhere whee they cannot get online then they are without music and that does not work for me. The issue is that the iunternet is not accessible  everywhere yet so there are places where people would not be able to access their music, making this subscription model not feasible right now. For now the subscription model only works if you are infront of a computer or connected to WiFi. I believe the only way that this could work is if music players havebuilt-in cellular radios that allow them to access the internet over cell phone towers however, there would be latency and buffering so, buying music is still the best method and makes listening to music simple and enjoyable

When the first monochrome, single gigabyte music players first hit the market in the late 1990’s, they flew off the shelves but, after some time, people began to make larger, hard drive players  that held a lot more music and were about the size of a deck of cards. Examples of these players are the ipod classic and the Creative Zen players. The next generation were the mid-capacity flash memory players that were much smaller in size and held a decent amount of music.

However, these devices have run their course and are outdated, some more than others. In my opinion the future devices, will be more than just a media player, it will also work as a PDA, email device, have a web browser and can surf over WiFi finally, it will work as game device. These devices will also have a sleek design and will be easy to carry in any sized pocket. This allows users to combind the functions of a PDA, MP3 player, portable game device all in one sleek and thin package.  The device is a combination of enjoyment and productivity, although games tend to make the device less produdctive and more of a distraction.

As of right now, there is really only one device like this, and that is Apple’s Ipod Touch. The other older device especially those with less than a 8 Gigbyte capacity will definitly fast out. Also, large devices like the iPod Classic and Creative Zen will fade away because of their size and they only do a few things. These new ultimate devices will very likley use flash memory and currently flash memory can not hold as much as hard drives but, the caacity of flash devices are growing and the will reach the hard drive level soon.

In this modern age where everyone is using a computer for their day-to-day life radio broadcasts have become more and more obsolete and Internet radio has made it even more useless.  The internet now has various different services that replace most of what Radio offers.

Podcasts are now availible which is talk radio shows distributed over the internet in MP3 format and on any variety topics and can be listened to when ever the viewer wants. The other advantage of pocasts is you can get the information much faster instead of having to sit through long advertising breaks and music breaks podcast has quick ads and no music can be distributed over that format so that you can get the information much faster and podcasts don’t have the FCC regulations that restrict content and foul language giving much more freedom. Podcasts can also be made by anyone with a microphone and internet connection so you can get a wide variety of opinons and perspectives.

As for music broadcasts the two main services are Last Fm and Pandora. They both allow you to enter your favorite song or musical artist and then builds a playlist of songs that you may like based on what you entered in as your musical preferences. This allows you to have your own radio station of songs that you like and not have to sit through long advetisements or songs that you don’t like. The internet is a great way to get music that you like and have a personalized playlist you can share with your friends.

By moving  to the internet for audio broadcasting not only gives the listener more freedom to listen to their music and shows but also allows them to share their favorite content over a variety of social networks and if they choose to they can create their own radio show by making a podcast allowing them to express their own ideas. With the continuing growth of internet broadcasting I predict very few people will be using radio in the next 25 years and think it will decrease even more in later years.

Many people buy their digital music from Apple’s iTunes Music store but, they sell their music with DRM (Digital Rights Management) for the regular $0.99/Song, these tracks have limitations on how many devices you can put your music on. Recently, Apple added an option for you to buy music for an extra dollar and you can unlock your music from their  DRM and get freedom with your tracks!  Apple has done a great job to make a one stop shop where you can play, manage, sync and buy music all from one application, and in that same application you can buy TV shows, download,  watch and subscribe to podcasts,  and buy or rent movies! Apple has made the Internet generation and even some of the older generations dependant on their software which in my opinion is slow and bulky and this is coming froma major Apple fanboy! I do not buy my music through iTunes because of the limitations and the rediculously slow application.  The best music store is Amazon’s amazing Mp3 store that is similar to iTunes’ however, all the tracks are DRM free and the starting price is only $0.88/song! It does not have a required application to buy your tunes which let’s you free up your computer but if you want an application, you can download a free download manager from Amazon, you can go online to their store and the homepage has all the tops songs and some bargain deals just like iTunes! You pay for the tracks with a credit card and they download to your pc  and you can even add it to your iTunes library! By doing this you will save $1 per song on DRM free tracks and you can put those tracks anywhere and as many places as you want and even on your iPod! Do yourself a favor and at least download your songs from Amazon and put them in iTunes and use them as you would but with Amazon you will have freedom with your music!