The REAL Death Of The Music Industry
My friend Adam sends me this link, with fancy charts and graphics... The thing that stood out to me the most is that the charts resemble classic boom-and-bust cycles in economics. Take a look at that second chart there, "The Right Chart". There was a peak in the late 1970s, then another peak right around 2000.
The music industry is unlikely to ever replicate those kinds of sales again. As illustrated in the great book Appetite for Self-Destruction, the labels thought the gravy train would never end, and that business would boom forever. Big mistake.
Sheet music was supposed to kill live performance, recorded music was supposed to kill sheet music, radio was supposed to kill recorded music, video was supposed to kill the radio star (sorta did), and on and on. In human history the 20th century is kind of an aberration, never has so much money been invested into music. It was another bubble that was going to burst.
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