The Future of Recorded Music

Just because I'm an Apple customer doesn't mean I see everything Apple's way. (MS software is the bane of my existence, however.) And I certainly agree that free is cheaper than $.99. I don't think the Apple model itself will stop the theft. It may begin to supplant the purchased disk, however, and as it does it will have an effect both on what is recorded and on how it is marketed.

The question isn't whether they hear it--it's whether they care. I've yet to meet anybody who listens to MP3s, but thinks they're inadequate (actual audiophiles excepted, of course).

A few more details: Full albums will apparently go for $9.99, a definite discount over current retail. And Apple does plan to open this to the Windows world by the end of the year. Also, the majors seem ready to put much of their catalog up once the bugs are worked out.

I agree with Flex that this will have greater appeal in the pop market than elsewhere. (And I plan to stick to store-bought CDs for now.) But who knows what impact it might have on jazz, classical, and other genres? For one thing, it will be easier to bundle samplers, which may be the way to introduce new artists.

I think the demand for redbook and better downloads is relatively limited. The only people who hear a difference between MP3s and redbook are the people (like us) who listen for one. So even with more bandwidth, we might not see a lot of uncompressed downloads available.

Still, this is going to affect how music is marketed in ways that we can't really predict yet.