The music industry has been complaining bitterly that online music has been cutting into the sale of CDs (legal and illegal downloads). But new data shows that online (legal) music sales have been flat for some months. This suggests what many people, including me, have been saying for some time--that the music industry has been serving up crummy music.
There is another explanation as well. Consumers are not stupid, and most people can figure out pretty quickly that it is better to pay an extra buck or two for the CD, which enables them to avoid all the protection schemes that come with legal digital downloads, which range from somewhat annoying to just plain awkward.
But CD sales are also down, which further suggests consumers think the music offerings are not that good. In the elusive quest to sell only gold and platinum groups, many good bands and musicians are being bypassed, and the irony is that with digital distribution, there is hardly any reason not to sign up lots of bands and see which ones become popular--distribution costs are virtually zero!
Meanwhile, there are lots of groups that seem to do reasonably well without any recording contracts at all, simply using live concerts and a Web site to promote their music.