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In this case, it was found that Napster, while not actually participating in the direct distribution of  copyrighted work, was aware that the software service that they were providing was primarily being used for the redistribution of copyrighted work.

This brief but interesting paper examines the interaction between new technologies and the structure of the music market, with a particular emphasis on the cultural effects on the market. As with Tschmuck, the analysis looks at technological impact on repressed cultural movements like early “race music” and rock and roll.

A short press release from late February or early march of this year. A few years earlier iTunes became the largest retailer of music, surpassing WalMart. In my professional experience, I’ve seen iTunes surpass 40% of total sales for a release. Survey data compiled by myself and some colleagues indicated a high correlation between casual consumers of digital music and nearly singular use of iTunes as the primary purchase point for digital music.

This was used just to pull chart position numbers. The ability of bands like the Arcade Fire, Shins, and Vampire Weekend to debut in number one and number two positions on the Billboard chart is something that was unimaginable for mid-sized independent record labels just ten years ago. Part of this is due to the massive contraction of first week sales of major acts and part is due to growth by the independents. These three bands in particular are representative of some of the most successful independent bands each having put out successful albums prior to these releases.

Banks discusses the cultural and sales impact of MTV beginning in the early 1980s through the most recent consolidation period of the music industry. At the advent of MTV, sales in the music industry had been languishing for a few years; labels had heavily invested in disco, which passed out of favor relatively quickly, leaving the labels with little relevant cultural product in development. MTV re-invigorated sales not with cultural innovation, but via marketing innovation.

This book is an industry classic, detailing the rise of payola and the industry heavyweights who consolidated the music business through the rock and roll period into to the eighties. Dannen provides a great deal of anecdotal detail and insight into the back room nature of the industry and  the interplay between radio promoters and labels during that period.

A look at the effects of radio deregulation during the later half of the last century. The author argues that radio deregulation has not, in fact, led to diversity but has, in fact, allowed for major consolidation of radio programming as several large corporations have taken over the bulk of programming in most American radio markets. These conglomerates program similar formats across markets.

The majors finally decided to invest in technology in a major way in the later half of the last decade after legal action failed to contain the mounting losses in sales. This was done by inking deals with all sorts of services and investing in others. My impression of these divestments was that despite the efforts of some very smart people the challenges of generating adequate revenue from the ad model were too difficult to overcome and that, in the end, distracting

Although later questioned by the author himself, the core idea of one thousand true fans has found its way into newer business models in the music industry. The current take is based on a tiered model with the “1000 true fans” at the top of a pyramid which separates fans out by their level of interest in the band and willingness to engage. At the bottom of the pyramid are passive fans who engage in a band’s music fairly passively.

Apple’s acquisition of Lala has been subject to a fair amount of debate in the music tech community. Most tend to agree that is likely indicates a move by Apple into cloud based music services. This theory is most interesting in light of their apparent dedication to developing a broader market for smaller, network-enabled devices. A cloud-based iTunes would provide access to a nearly limitless library of music without incurring the storage costs, compete directly with Spotify, and have the advantage of a huge installed user base.

Knopper, S. (2009). Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age. New York: Free Press.

Knoppler describes the circumstances and the series of miscues that led the music industry from massive profits of the compact disc into the chaos of the digital age. The style is fairly anecdotal, but the chapters regarding the arc of Napster and the peer-to-peer networks are very informative.

This is just cited to provide a description of an early MP3 encoder.

This is a very recently completed study conducted by Arbor Networks in conjunction with the University of Michigan on the nature and trends of Internet traffic. It was done by network engineers to provide data about how the network can be optimized and was the first study of its kind. Interestingly, it indicated a massive consolidation of content providers and network controllers over just the past few years.

In Code, Lessig describes a framework within which he imagines regulation of internet activity happening. Fundamental to his argument is a notion that the internet is trending toward de facto regulation by the code of the software that we use to engage with others online.

In this short blog piece, Messina explores the idea of the URL (as we know it) going away as more and more interaction on the Internet is mediated by client software which controls which network nodes you have access to through alternative, and often more limited, interfaces. Examples of this are the iTunes App Store and web-enabled television.

One of the key court cases that defined the framework within which providers of digital services may use copyrighted material. MGM v. Grokster was the last of these cases and held that the provider of peer-to-peer software can be held responsible even if they are not party to the data being share amongst network nodes.

MP3. (2010, March 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:22, March 5, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MP3&oldid=347716586

This is just cited to provide a basic description of MP3 technology. The underlying details are rather technical and the Wikipedia page serves as a good starting point for understanding what the technology is and what motivated its development.

Authoritative data on daily MP3 throughput was not available via Knoppler, so this article was used provide an order of magnitude. It’s also helpful as a basic description of the service.

This article describes the history of Napster and provides a list of major artists whose records appeared on the service in advance of their release dates. Again, it was used to supplement Knoppler with bigger picture information and a simpler timeline.

A definition of Payola and a history of its practice in the music industry. This article provided a basic timeline of legal actions against the industry for the practice. Hit Men, by Dennon is a more authoritative work and the history and practice.

Sanjek, R. (1996). Pennies From Heaven: The American Popular Music Business in the Twentieth Century. New York: De Capo Press.

The final volume in an exhaustive multi-volume work on the popular music business, this book is deeply researched and cited by most authors in the subject. The book covers the role of intellectual property law and its effects on the business in painstaking detail. An abridgment exists for the faint of heart.

This is a translation of a dissertation on the affect that social, technological, and legal forces have on creativity in the music industry. Tschmuck is concerned with cultural creativity in addition to creativity in business business practices. Of my sources, he had the clearest articulation of the connection between technological paradigm shifts and sales. His outline of important periods informed my approach.

Along with Napster and Grokster, this case provides the structure within which new digital distribution services must work. Interestingly, the service over which this case was fought in 2000 was very similar to the cloud-based services emerging over the past few years.

The above press releases are simply cited to provide data points with regards to the size of UMG when the music industry was at peak sales.

Winston informs the perspective with which I approach the suppression of new technology. My study focused less on applying his theory completely and focused primarily on the interplay between suppression and the effect of new technologies without going too deeply into social factors.