Satellite radio gives music execs a shiny new ulcer for Christmas
Never mind the rampant, royalty-free downloading going on via myriad unauthorized web sites. Forget about how iPod culture has made buying actual CDs obsolete. Those issues are old news. The fresh new worry wrinkling music executives’ foreheads is the new satellite radio receivers being produced by XM and Sirius, which will allow users to record satellite broadcasts, manage song inventories, and create playlists–much like Apple’s popular iTunes software.
The key difference? Labels get significantly lower compensation for music played on satellite radio than they do for songs sold on iTunes or purchased on a CD. Thus, the black hole draining the music industry of its revenue widens a little further…and sales of Zantac and Excedrin rise a little higher.
Thanks for the notice. I’m going to have to check out one of these new receivers, since I certainly enjoy XM in my car… but haven’t gone mobile from there, yet. Still, I’m not overjoyed to have to figure out one more digital device.
Funny… as I get older, I enjoy music as much or more… but I’m less and less thrilled with learning new technology.
I guess this is what they mean by “crochety old man” syndrome.
I got in the car the other day and the radio was on something other than NPR - a sure sign that my wife had driven it last - and I heard a commercial that, while I can’t remember the precise wording, was clearly intended to say, “Hey, look at us, our radio is free, and you should respect it because you don’t have to pay for it!” Too bad it tends to suck!
Hee, hee. Yeah, it’s free all right: free of any music people actually want to hear! My favorite radio station right now is the one I created for myself on Launchcast. It’s FREE, too, and I can skip any songs I don’t want to hear.