The beat goes on: The future of the digital music revolution

We have seen that, generally speaking, the music industry is slow to embrace new music formats. Radio allowed people to listen to music for free without having to buy a record, cassette tapes allowed listeners to copy tapes or record songs directly from the radio, CD burners allowed us to make high-quality copies of our favorite songs and albums, and digital music online allowed us to share and swap files, which increased music piracy considerably. With all of these technological advancements, the music industry has voiced concern over illegal copying of music effecting its profits. So no matter what direction the music industry takes in the future, chances are the record labels will be unhappy about it.

But what will the future of music be? It's impossible to know for sure, but here are some predictions:

1. Digital music formats will continue to dominate the industry. Because digital music sales have been so incredibly popular, it is unlikely that we will see a shift from the online distribution of music anytime soon. The music industry is generally slow to adapt to new technology, so once it fully embraces iTunes and other online distributors, it will be a long time before we see another format dominate the industry.

2. Digital music will become even more mobile. With the wide availability of wireless Internet access, digital music players will have the ability to download songs. Right now, iPod users have to download songs on their computer and then upload them to their iPod. Future generations of the iPod will no doubt include wireless access so that users can browse and purchase music from the iTunes Store anywhere. This technology would also allow users to wirelessly network to their computers to download or upload files without having to connect through the computer's USB port.

3. Convergence will continue. The popularity of games like "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" has shown us that video gamers are crazy about music, and that the music industry can work with other industries to distribute music. This is a trend that we will likely see continue in the future. With digital TV, the music industry could work with TV producers to include information about particular songs that appear in TV shows and commercials so that viewers can find and download them. Viewers could eventually download music directly from their televisions and upload them to their iPods or computers.

4. The decline of iTunes. Right now, Apple's dominance on the digital music industry is unparalleled. But that could change. So far, Apple has been quick to adapt to an industry that is rapidly changing. However, unless they stop distributing music with DRM, a large part of their loyal customers could switch to another music company that doesn't include these protections.

5. The continuation of music piracy. While the RIAA has gone after companies like Napster and private individuals like college students, piracy and peer-to-peer file sharing will continue in the future. While programs like iTunes include DRM to make it harder to pirate music, there are always those who use technology to try and break these safeguards, and eventually they will succeed. And chances are, just like piracy in the past, it will have little or no effect on the music industry as whole.

No matter what the future brings, we can be sure that the digital music revolution will continue well into the future.

Some bands still not embracing the Revolution

When the media talks about bands who aren't making their music available for sale online, they are usually talking about the biggest hold-outs of them all: The Beatles. But they aren't the only ones who aren't embracing iTunes. According to Reuters, both AC/DC and Kid Rock decided not to sell their latest albums on-line.

However, their reasoning was different that The Beatles'. One of the features that many people love about iTunes is the ability to download single songs without having to buy the whole album. This feature is exactly what AC/DC and Kid Rock wanted to avoid. The wanted to force their fans to buy the entire album, not just one or two songs. Clearly, the reason behind this is money. The bands are afraid that if their fans can download one or two songs for 99 cents each, then they won't buy the entire album and their record sales will drop. And their plan seemed to work. Kid Rock's album, "Rock N Roll Jesus" was the third best selling album of the year, and AC/DC's "Black Ice" was the fourth.

But why are these big acts so worried about record sales in the first place? For big-name bands with a large fan base like AC/DC and Kid Rock, most of their profit comes from touring and ticket sales, not from album sales. Most of the money made from selling albums goes to the record label. So these bands must see their music, not as a collection of songs, but an entire work of art. If a person wants to listen to just one song off of an album, they won't truly understand the band's entire message.

And this leads us back to the Beatles. They were the first band that truly looked at the album as an entire work of art. Their revolutionary album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," released in 1967 was one of the first concept albums, and it changed music history. Songs ran together without a clear ending and in order to appreciate the album, a listener had to listen to the entire album from beginning to end. This type of album doesn't translate well into individual songs, unless the user is forced to buy the entire album, and iTunes only allows this on the rarest of occasions.

So while the Internet may be good for some bands who release only singles and not concept albums, there are other bands, like the Beatles and AC/DC who feel that their albums should be listened to in their entirety or not at all, who feel that the revolution isn't necessarily a good thing.

iTunes's potential downfall

There are dozens of reasons to dislike iTunes. The newest versions run slowly and use a lot of a computer's memory, there are oftentimes connection problems with the iTunes store, and it sometimes freezes and shuts down. But one of the biggest complaints about the digital media giant is that the music available through iTunes includes DRM, or digital rights management. DRM restricts the user from playing a protected file on certian devices and is what allows iTunes to limit a file to being on only five computers. And it is a major problem for music fans who use iTunes to get their music, but want to play it on a device other than an iPod.

According to this article by Iain Laing, Amazon recently started distributing music without DRM in Britain. This could signal the end of Apple's dominance of the digital music industry. People will no longer be limited to the number of times they can burn a particular file onto a CD or how many devices they are allowed to play the file on. They can even play files on any MP3 player.

But Apple is smart, and while Amazon has tried to take advantage of one of it's weaknesses, we will probably not see the end of Apple's online music dominance anytime soon. Apple has such a huge share of the market, and current, devoted iTunes users will be unlikely to switch to another service anytime soon. iPods are also incredibly popular, and since one of the biggest complaints about Apple's DRM is that it doesn't allow playback on anything other than an iPod, this argument doesn't effect very many iTunes users.

iTunes will likely be able to weather Amazon's recent development, but it is a sign that there are changes in the distribution of digital music, and that Apple may not be king for ever.

No need to leave home

As Bujega mentions in his book, "The Interpersonal Divide," the purpose of a home is changing thanks to digital technology. Instead of being a place of solitude to get away from the outside world, the home is becoming a connection or portal to the outside world. We go home to check e-mail, instant message, check Facebook or Myspace, and to buy music. Bujega argues that this is not necessarily a good thing, and in terms of social and interpersonal uses of the Internet, I agree. But the role that digital technology has played in music distribution has been been mostly positive.

The biggest advantage to buying music online is the amount and variety available. At my local Best Buy store, the biggest section of music is pop/rock. This is a little inconvenient for me, as I listen to a lot of blues. Best Buy does have a blues section, but it is very small. I can get a much better selection of blues music through iTunes, and I can get it without having to leave my bed room.

And the same holds true for digital movies and videos. There are movies available on iTunes that I am sure I would be unable to find at any brick-and-mortar store in Fargo. And while the movies sold through iTunes don't come with the special features and deleted scenes like DVDs do, it is often worth it not to have to go to the video store, which may not even have the title you're looking for.

So while digital technology may be increasing the interpersonal divide through tools like e-mail and instant messaging, it has also been used to increase exposure to music and videos that people would be otherwise unable to get. Bugeja could make the argument that if you are buying music and video online, you are missing out on connecting interpersonally with the cashier, but that is a relationship I am willing to let suffer in the name of more music and movie variety.