Music - Pathfinder in the Creative Industries' Digital Revolution

The music business is continuing to lead the creative industries into the digital era. In 2011 and for the first-time ever, more than a quarter of the recorded music businesses global revenues (27%) came from digital channels - a market value an estimated US$4.8 billion in trade value which is up fourteen percent on 2010 (IFPI). In the US, the world's largest music market, online and mobile revenues now account for around 50 percent of music sales. Consumer selection is transformed as companies have licensed over eleven million tracks to around four hundred legal streaming music services all over the world.

Music fans today have the ability to access & pay for music in diverse ways - from buying albums or tracks from download shops to using subscription services, to using music services which are bundled together with devices, purchasing mobile applications for music, & listening to music via streaming "music on-demand" services.

Music businesses have licensed advertising-supported services to attract non-payers & file-sharers, struck innovative deals with the main ISPs, developed partnerships with device manufacturers & established a new platform for top-quality music videos specifically for mass audiences. All of those initiatives are experimental & creative, and all are predicated on the simple principle of meeting the desires of the music fan.

A spokesman for Warner Music International EMEA said that, "the purpose of our business is to make the music accessible any place and at any time. However, the main issue is to cope with the music piracy environment. It is very hard to monetize with the widespread environment of piracy."

Chief Executive of EMI Music, Elio Leoni-Sceti says that, "Our aim is to be consumer savvy but not to be simply digitally savvy. Today customers choose to enjoy music digitally. So, it is necessary for us to be digitally aware. To meet this necessity of the customers we're trying to have digital features & marketing capabilities."

In the technological era, the music industry is diversifying its business models and also revenue streams. The à-la-carte download model, pioneered by iTunes, is still the largest revenue source in the entire online industry & has over 100 million accounts across twenty three countries. Recent improvements in the sector consist of the introduction of changeable pricing which has also increased the conversion of track purchases to album sales, and the launch of the iTunes LP & the rollout of DRM-free downloads on a Global scale.

At present, new business models are making music easily accessible to the consumers in many different ways. An album was delivered in only certain formats before some years ago but at present it is delivered in a variety of formats that is simple to work with for the consumer.

Currently, albums come in hundreds of formats and also items, for example; most albums are now available in more than 260 different types of products in the US together with music videos, master tones, ring back tones and audio tracks.

Music firms have developed reliable partnerships with the best music player ad-supported services like Music and We7, MySpace, Spotify, Deezer, My Dubli, mobile operators such as Vodafone, Terra in Brazil and Sky in the UK, ISPs such as TDC in Denmark , online video channels such as Hulu and VEVO and handset makers such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

The digital music revolution is here so I suggest you take down a digital copy of all those CD's & put them away...forever ;-]

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