Is the music industry stuck between a rock and a hard place? The role of the internet and three possible scenarios

Abstract

The Internet through the world-wide-web has well and truly opened ‘Pandora's Box’ as far as the record industry is concerned, and there is no going back. The extensive use of illegal file-sharing and illegal downloads of music tracks (totally for free) threatens the very survival of the record industry as we know it. Furthermore this behaviour threatens the very livelihoods of the employees, artists, and bands who work within the record industry. This paper reviews the current situation and then offers three possible scenarios for the future of the record industry (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly). Firstly, The Good, where the record industry survives; secondly, The Bad where the record industry dies a slow death; and finally The Ugly, where the record industry dies very quickly. The consideration of several key factors involved will help the industry to focus on maintaining The Good.