"The Future Of Music"

By Terrence Cain

Ever since the invention of the internet peer to peer website known as Napster came to light in 1999 , and the lawsuit that ensued by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, there has been a major wind change in how music has and will continue to be sold to the consumer. Some people would say that Napster has essentially killed the traditional formula of how musicians and record labels have existed since the early twentieth century, and some of those same people would say that is a very bad thing for the future of music. None of those people however would be musicians. Most musicians would tell you how they got swindled out of literally millions of dollars and had the rights to their music taken away from them.

Without the creation of Napster iTunes would not be the software program it is today where you can digitally download single songs, and even complete albums, for a fairly inexpensive price that you could then put on a personal handheld music such as the iPod and play that download literally anywhere you wanted. Things are changing for the music world, and I for one would say that it is for the better. Because of the invention of iTunes' digital music store musicians can now make their own music without a record label, sell it themselves to their fans, and reap the profits one-hundred percent. It's something musicians have been dreaming of for a very long time.

Musicians, however, have been slow in coming into the digital era of selling their music on iTunes and other formats because their music comes out flat through the compression that digitizing does to the overall sound, but with the advancements being made in technology one day soon musicians will see the pros of going digital and will forgo all the trials and tribulations of trying to get signed to a record label and will instead invest all their time in performing live, maybe even using donation sites, to save money to go into professional recording studios to make their own albums and singles that they can then sell on the internet to anyone in the world who wants to buy their music.

This new era is already happening with some musicians out there. The ones who can afford it are even pressing out their music on vinyl record, some are even transferring their music to cassette tapes, and yes even posting MP3 versions of their music up on iTunes for their loyal fans to purchase. They're simply forgoing the pains of dealing with a third party being involved with their music and going straight to the fans. Fans are even able to get closer to their favorite musicians, within healthy limits of course, thanks to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter where they can talk to them personally and ask them about when the next album will be coming out or just simply give them feedback on what the musician has done.

I think within the next decade or two record labels will be non-existent and technology will be so advanced that you will literally be able to hear the musician's own hearts beating with their music on the latest iTunes software in high definition deluxe stereo. Of course I am over-exaggerating the heart beat part, but my point is that even though the digital format for music is still in its infancy period it will grow and get better with time and it will be a true god send to musicians around the world who just want to make enough money from their art to be able to do what they do without the hassles of trying to keep their music in their own hands.