CDs are all filler and no killer
Having bought 20,000 vinyl records and about 5,000 CDs in my lifetime, I recently realised that I just don't buy CDs any more. Bands like Glasvegas, who I adore, give away their music via MySpace. People send me MP3s the whole time, and I can get any CD I want off the band that recorded it. Like lots of people, I'm a music freak: we all want music but nobody in 2007 wants to pay for it.
There are some people who still collect records - like my son, who is obsessed by the seven-inch singles of 1981. But really, barring extreme specialists like him at one end of the spectrum and the Maroon 5 and Coldplay audience at the other, most people get hold of music by downloading it, and they definitely don't pay.
The record business needs to realise this, change their business model and give away music for free. People will pay for gig tickets and band T-shirts - and they might even pay for reissued classic albums with extra, rare tracks. However, no one wants to pay £15 for a debut album. We all want to hear it, but we don't want to pay for it.
This leaves the record companies stranded. They're selling things people don't buy any more. I wish I could feel sad for the record companies but I can't. Their product was poor value - all filler and no killer. Give away the music and build the business back up though live gigs and merchandise. The 80s and 90s are over - someone tell the music business.
