The Future of the Music Business
An interesting article over at Word Magazine, about the economics of the music business and how the future might look for those of us who make music for a living.
"In ten years' time, maybe five, being a pop star will be a profitable profession. Like being a barrister or a consultant. But not like being a juice carton magnate."
And then later:
And finally:
"Today's famous musicians work harder and are paid less, and in the future it'll only get worse. A rock star used to be a demigod who bathed in money each morning. In the future, they'll look with envy on Java programmers or hedge fund managers."
Not sure about the hedge fund managers, but I get the point.
"In ten years' time, maybe five, being a pop star will be a profitable profession. Like being a barrister or a consultant. But not like being a juice carton magnate."
And then later:
"Internet clever person Kevin Kelly has written a great essay called
1,000 True Fans. He sets out how a musician (or writer, or artist)
should be able to make a comfortable living (say $100,000 a year) if
they can offer sufficiently enticing products to a sufficient number of
true fans. His maths are fuzzy but his basic argument is sound."
The title of the article is "Why should Rock Stars expect to be Rich?" and is written by Tom Whitwell, the guy who does the Music Thing blog (which is one of my favorite reads on the 'net). And finally:
"Today's famous musicians work harder and are paid less, and in the future it'll only get worse. A rock star used to be a demigod who bathed in money each morning. In the future, they'll look with envy on Java programmers or hedge fund managers."
Not sure about the hedge fund managers, but I get the point.
