Fast Talk

I think that the recording industry is dead as we knew it... we need to think of music in terms of social networking. Wasn't recording just an early version of social networking anyway? Think of the compilation tape of your favorite tunes...

Someone please save us from the recording industry...

They could maybe use a little more cowbell.

The recording industry will always be with us in some form. It is human nature to make records & - since Edison - recordings. The recording industry has changed form & format several times within my life time; I expect that will continue to happen.

No, it's not. Recording industry needs to recycle completely.

The recording industry is a lot like the newspaper industry - the big-name companies who embrace various platforms of New Media will be much more likely to survive than those who don't. And, like newspapers, record labels will thin out substantially in the coming years, leaving only the cream (e.g. most open to change) of the crop.

As technology evolves, and the tastes of people change, particularly how they want their chosen "content" EVERY industry will have to adapt. The recording industry won't cease to exist, it will just evolve into something different that it used, or may currently be. If 10,000 musicians decide to buy Macs and record their own music and distribute it themselves, guess what, they have become the recording industry. The generators of the musical content. I think the better question is if these new tactics will be enough to save the few giants that CONTROL the industry. And I think the answer is no. Artists have tasted freedom, and few will want to give that up.

I think one big question is how music producers who don't tour or star in Playboy will make money with the labels gone.

What other "innovative tactics"? As time goes by the recording companies may find themselves dinosaurs in the industry. Technology makes studios and post-production facilities more accessible and cheaper, and social media makes marketing easier. The recording industry as we know is singing its swan-song.

I see ringtones as just being a money gimmick for the record labels. It's not a substantial business model for them. What they'll probably do is try and get a firmer grip on the concert/ticket side of the business. That's where they have been shifting with their new contracts with musicians. They take more of a cut out of things. What I could see is them doing something sort of like Bandsintown.com where they try and create a culture around each show. They'll try and aggregate all their information and make it a one stop for impulse buys and ticket purchases.

I definitely think that the recording industry is not what it was in the 80's or 90's or even prior. Yet what industry really is the same from the earlier decades? If there wasn't any change it was show that the industry had become stagnant which is exactly not what musicians need. There is much more of a call for innovations in the industry which will help catapult it to a new level. The individual seems to have more power in presenting their music than ever before and as long as they stick with the new changes they will stay on top. As for ringtones saving the industry, I don't know about that, but I do believe it is an innovation that musicians should take advantage of.