Raw Thoughts

You may or may not be aware, but EMI Music has put itself up for sale. Guess what? Bids were lower than expected, mostly from the other remaining big music distributors, and the sale may be put on hold until the picture clears up. I don’t meant to bother you with random merger information, but rather to point out the sad state of music these days.  It’s been this way for awhile now with no clear end in sight. The big 4 music companies (Sony Music Entertainment, EMI, Warner Music, and Universal Music) are trying to cut deals and move into the digital world, but is it too late? Years after selling songs on itunes for $.99, the companies are about to partner with Google to launch a service in the coming weeks. They’re working on social deals and shrinking to survive. The good news is the publishing side of the business is still viable, so there’s something to hang your hat on.

So the worlds largest social media event, to occur in Los Angeles on November 3-5, has declared they will announce the official end of the music business at that event.  Really?  There won’t be another Budokan or Comes Alive?  Just a whole lot of singles meted out to us via digital channels?  It looks like the answer is yes, unfortunately as far as I’m concerned.  At least you cannot digitize a live performance (yet).