The Infrastructure
Well, what lies beneath is a dynamic infrastructure in the way everyone will buy and sell in the oh so distant future. Unfortunately, the music industry didn't discover this business model; therefore, they want to take it away. At least for now!

Here at the turn of the millennium, the music business and artist are taking a loss. Well the artists always take the loss, so what's the difference? Under the current business model of the music recording industry, a record label pays the advertising, personal advances, manufacturing and distribution up front. If there are not enough records sold, let's say 1 million or more, the artist pays the difference. I didn't mention the artist pays for everyone's salary in the music business chain*.

So in the end, the artist is getting very little of his worth if any. The advances he received when he/she was flamboyant in the beginning have to be paid back to the record label also. How are the artists going to get their music out to the public? And how, in this over-saturated and over-manipulated media world, are the consumers going to find the new music that appeals to their hearts and souls at an affordable price? Answer: Through Napster, Gnutella, Cute MX, Spin Frenzy, and Audio Galaxy. These are the potential content distributors of the future. The Global Business Model Now what does Napster have to do with this business model? Let's say, for example, that a period of two years goes by without any interruption of Napster. Generation Y will become accustomed to downloading their favorite artists' music. Music artists will no longer accept being pimped by the record labels and market their music via Internet models such as Napster.

Napster will probably start charging a minor fee for each download. This will be acceptable, because, as the saying goes, "like the frog was in the water when it was cold, so what's a little heat?" [If you don't know what this means send me an email.] Most people will have a routine of downloading via the program. Why would the public, the most important group out of all of this, want to pay $18 for a CD?

There are approximately 400 million people in the United States. There are three major recording companies, Sony, BMG, and Universal. Two major telecommunications companies, AT&T and Verizon. VIACOM ownes VH1and MTV.

Approximately in the year 2004 or 2005 most people will be downloading their favorite music. Artists who have copyrighted their music will get a larger share of the profits and the middleman (current music labels) will have been minimized to simply marketing firms. Musicians who had no chance of getting their music released have an equal opportunity to distribute their music.

At this point, Napster and others named above become the global music distribution center, or simply "A Major Music Label."

The ultimate winner of this dynamic business model is the consumer. The consumer gets to hear and purchase good music that truly is wonderful to his ears, versus listening to songs that have been shoved into their brains so many times that they just go and buy them, even though they're constantly saying, "How did that song make it on the radio? The kid next door plays better music than that!"

Page 3 Question number two: What does this have to do with our Industry? and Chuck D!

*NOTE: In fairness, all record labels don't operate in this fashion.

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