The Record Industry is Terminally Ill

The Record Industry is Terminally Ill

But the Music Industry is Alive and Well and on the Brink of Phenomenal Change and Growth

'The billions of songs downloaded from the Web monthly have shown that the digital music revolution is well underway. The Future of Music shows us where this is all headed and how music fans and artists are going to benefit from the new paradigms and new business models that are emerging.' Ted Cohen, Senior Vice President, Digital Development & Distribution, EMI Music

BOSTON, March 1 /PRNewswire/ -- In THE FUTURE OF MUSIC: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution, David Kusek, a music industry entrepreneur and Vice President at the Berklee College of Music, and Gerd Leonhard, music futurist and founder of ThinkAndLink, analyze the music industry and explore how it needs to adapt for the future.

From free music downloads on Kazaa to legal music downloads on iTunes and Napster to other forms of free music online, the book charts a music industry destined to embrace digital music, or so it seems. What will become of the music business, the music store, the independent and major record label, artists, writers, publishers, managers and others in the age of music downloads? Is there a better way for the industry to proceed?

Artists, writers, composers, and producers will all prosper in this new landscape, both creatively and financially. In The Future of Music, the music industry is redefined as fairer, bigger, and better. Fans, artists, and all kinds of music communities drive the business, rather than being driven by corporate powers.

According to Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law, Stanford University and founder of Creative Commons, "I know of no other text that as beautifully and concisely presents the fundamental challenge that music now faces. This book is essential for anyone who wants to understand what is at stake in this debate."

Ultimately, Kusek and Leonhard explain, music will flow like water

-- fluid and (almost) free. Consumers will be billed much the way they are for electricity or oil or telephone -- directly, or as an addition to the fee they pay to their Internet service provider. Much like telecommunications companies that embraced technology and gave birth to the cell phone industry, the music industry must do the same.

THE FUTURE OF MUSIC is published by Berklee Press. More information is available at http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/ .

Source: Berklee Press

CONTACT: press, Lori Ames of Jane Wesman Public Relations, +1-212-620-4080, ext. 12, or lori@wesmanpr.com, for Berklee Press

Web site: http://www.berkleepress.com/

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