Today there have been a lot of articles regarding the state of the music industry floating around, particularly via Boing Boing and a lot of people’s Livejournals. So, I’m going to share some of the best articles I have saved the past few years, since so many people are interested in this subject.

The Music Industry Is Not In Trouble
Indie film producer thanks pirates for downloading his movie
Statistics from Radiohead Online Release
How Battlestar Galactica Killed Broadcast TV
People who illegally share music files online are also big spenders on legal music downloads
Top 10 Most Useful Tools for Online Music Enterprise
The 20 Things You Must Know About Music Online
Example of How DRM Affects Basic Consumers
Downloading Is Not Illegal
The Internet Debacle – An Alternative View
Music Is Not a Loaf of Bread
The Chumbawamba Factor
Record sales are tanking, and there’s no hope in sight: How it all went wrong
Piracy Is A Business Model, Says Disney Co-Chair Anne Sweeney
The Problem With Music by Steve Albini
Courtney Love does the math

I think most of these articles help confirm these ideas:

1) The way music and movies are consumed is irrevocably going to change.
2) People who make money with music need to change their business model if they want to continue to be profitable.
3) The new system can be used to promote art effectively if people/businesses are willing to adapt.
4) The music and movie industries are not dying. All this change will encourage all sorts of growth and innovation, it just takes innovative people stepping up and using all this power in a creative way.

And opposing views, because I’m fair. Though I am not fair enough to not say that I think these articles are nothing more than crying from small labels unwilling to think of creative ways to adapt to the changing climate. Calling your fans unethical thieves will never generate much sympathy in my opinion, and someone will be there to replace these guys when the market marginalizes them. Never the less, opposing views:

The End of an Era
Buy Don’t Burn