As you no doubt have heard, the music industry has undergone major changes during the past decade. Nowhere has the progress of technology brought more change than to the recording business.

In the 90s, music was overwhelmingly distributed on CDs. In the 80s, everyone bought cassettes. In the 70s, the venerable LP record was still in wide use. Good memories aside, those forms of music distribution were expensive, both for the record company AND for the consumer.

The average hit LP cost several dollars to produce and sold for $5 to $10. The CD cost just fifty cents to make, but sold for $10 to $15.

Then the Internet hit, and boy did it ever change things. Music could be downloaded in digital form making the massive cost of distribution almost nil. But digital music could also be traded easily. Bootleg sites and systems sprang up and came close to bankrupting the music industry.

Like a cat clawing its way out of a pool, record companies lashed out at anyone and everyone who might have been abusing digital files.

Today, after much deliberation by courts, governments, lawyers, and even concerned citizens, an air of calm and order has taken over the online music industry.

These days you can legally download your favorite music for as little as nine cents per song. Why so cheap? Artists and record companies realize there is massive access to huge audiences online. They also know that online digital distribution is dirt cheap — almost free. When they offer you music for just nine cents, they are still amassing reasonable profits.  Read more...