21st Century: The First 10 Years -- This is the Future? by George Ziemann -- December 29, 2009 When I was a school-age kid in the 1960s, the 21st century was an unimaginable realm where science fiction became had become reality -- either something of a cross between Star Trek and the Jetsons or a post-apocalyptic wasteland. After the first decade of the new century, the latter seems more likely. In fact, thinking back over the events of the past ten years is actually rather depressing -- 9/11, the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Hurricane Katrina, Blackwater, Iran, the bank bailout... Then Obama got elected and we briefly all saw a ray of hope, which turned out to be an optical illusion. Then we had teabaggers, Glenn Beck, Israel and Palestine (still fighting a racial war that's been going on for eons to control the "Holy Land," which is currently one of the most dangerous places on the planet), saber-rattling by North Korea, Iran, Russia and China, topped off with Congress' willingness to play partisan mind games instead of trying to do anything useful for Americans -- turning "universal health care" into "mandatory insurance." The music industry has so much to destroy itself over the past ten years that it is difficult to comprehend or convey, a process that began even before 2000. Two-thirds of their album shipments (and sales) have vanished in the past decade. The record labels blame it entirely on the ability to download mp3 files, an activity which they call "piracy," even though it has nothing to do with ships, boats, buried treasure or anything else associated with actual pirates. Except for "Talk Like a Pirate" Day. And maybe the buried treasure, since there is so much music the major labels have stopped or prevented from making available. We got to see some of that treasure on Napster, which the RIAA promptly killed, only to see three or four more sites just like it pop up almost immediately, a process which would be repeated endlessly for the next ten years and is still underway. Napster initially offered 5 cent per download to the record labels, who laughed at 5 cents (they wanted $2.49 minimum) and then spent millions trying to locate and prosecute everyone who left the "Share public folder?" box checked on their file-sharing program. Then there was iTunes, which the majors didn't want in the first place because Apple only wanted to charge 99 cents per song and they were still holding out for $2.49. Apple tried to tell the labels that DRM was futile, but they insisted. So Apple created its own format that only Apple software could read. While this was the most effect DRM put into place (although it could still be gotten around), many people had a problem with paying for something and being limited in the playback options -- exactly what the record labels demanded. The record labels' "technical" team went through a number of terribly annoying attempts to thwart the audio CD standard and yet allow normal CD players to work properly. Most were sad attempts requiring Windows software that were "cracked" in 15 minutes or less. Then Sony decided to use a "rootkit," which turned out to be pretty serious malware. Then they finally went back to selling unprotected CDs. More millions spent following a bad idea that everyone told them was a bad idea in the first place. Or, as we in the western U.S. call it, beating a dead horse. Eventually, Apple decided to drop their DRM, mostly because of European anti-trust concerns. The labels, given the option to stay or not, all stayed but kept bitching about the price, to the point of acting as if their largest retailer was their competitor. Another factor likely dragging down sales is the demise of radio, although the addition of an FM receiver in the latest iPods offers an opportunity for radio to become more influential again. This will depend on whether they use that opportunity or keep playing the same old tired songs. But what would they replace it with? What did the record labels successfully promote and sell in the past 10 years? Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Josh Groban, Lady Gaga, American Idol, and anything else that they could Autotune to listenable. Cookie-cutter pop and hip-hop. Oh yeah, there's rock and roll, too -- Nickleback and Coldplay. Some of the big boys put out albums (Springsteen, Dylan, U2, Rolling Stones) that were marketed primarily through concert tours. Others (McCartney, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails) went the independent route, exploring new distribution angles, including exclusive deals with WalMart (Eagles, AC/DC). The record business has always been less than honest, but even when the Mob was in charge, they had better taste in music. There was more music released in 1969 alone that has stood the test of time than all of the candidates from the entire period of 2000 to 2009 are likely to replicate. The gear has become much better, though, so there's still some fucking hope for tomorrow on that front. Not for the music business, just the players who don't need or want it anymore.