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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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 OPINION 
16

How to Save the Music Biz

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(Newser) – The album is dead. Touring is on the fade. File-sharing is killing download profits. Adieu, music biz? Not so fast, reports The Wrap, which offers five fixes:

  • Drop the price. Ninety-nine cents for a song? Try 10. "Lower the price point, and you undercut the very foundation of illegal downloading."

  • Make like Jack White. He has three bands, opens his own stores, and feeds "a ravenous low-fi appetite among an ever growing legion of fans." Others need to march to their own drum. Like him.
  • Duck major labels. Or use them only for distribution. The less corporate America gets involved, the faster music gets on iPods, with "a greater sense of personal connection" and more profit for musicians.
  • Get into video games. Rock Band and Guitar Hero are obviously huge. Did you know the latter boosted Aerosmith catalogue sales by 40%?
For the fifth fix, click on the link below.

Jack White of the White Stripes performs during a concert Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Jack White of the White Stripes performs during a concert Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at Madison Square Garden in New York.   (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)
Thom Yorke, lead singer for Radiohead, performs with the USC marching band at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009, in Los Angeles.
Thom Yorke, lead singer for Radiohead, performs with the USC marching band at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009, in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Beastie Boys are shown at their sold-out performance in Madison Square Garden in New York in 2006.
The Beastie Boys are shown at their sold-out performance in Madison Square Garden in New York in 2006.   (AP Photo/Thinkfilm, file)
Alicia Keys poses for photos backstage at the 9th Annual BET Awards on Sunday, June 28, 2009, in Los Angeles.
Alicia Keys poses for photos backstage at the 9th Annual BET Awards on Sunday, June 28, 2009, in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
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16 comments
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Reader64481089
Sep 12, 09 8:22 PM CDT
"Lower the price point, and you undercut the very foundation of illegal downloading." ....now that is an intelligent suggestion... and as for Touring being dead, at the price of tickets and the scam that Ticket Master runs each time a popular artist attempts to do a show, no wonder tours are hitting the dirt hard, especially in today's economy Reply
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+10
IN RESPONSE:
VanessaRaeJ
Sep 12, 09 8:36 PM CDT
Agreed - I couldn't even go see the Killers this time around because the tickets were not only sixty a piece, but on top of that is like, a fifteen dollar or more service charge for the privilege to print out a ticket from their site. If it were maybe fifty bucks and no service charge, I would have totally been there.
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+4
IN RESPONSE:
Snarfeh
Sep 12, 09 9:59 PM CDT
Christ, I'm old....I remember thinking $10 was high for a concert ticket when I saw The Who in '76...
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+3
IN RESPONSE:
odowd80
Sep 13, 09 8:09 AM CDT
The thing the music industry doesn't factor in to their profitability is that with ipods and mp3's, people like to have 1,000's of songs in their libraries. This is a lot different dynamic than in the album days. People would buy 10 times the volume if they dropped prices. And without manufacturing and shipping costs of CD's, there's really no reason not to.
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+1
Timinator2K
Sep 12, 09 9:02 PM CDT
Like most RATIONAL change, it will be adopted by the recording/music industry as their only means to survive...and then they'll prosper like they could have been doing all along and the public will have much better deals. Reply
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