The death of CD

[Music_Junky]

Hi Butch. Thank you for your time and knowledge for the past weeks, it has been a blast.

I was wondering how you feel about the change of music biz with free unlegalized downloads, mp3 and such. Do you think the major label were sleeping and did not act fast enough to keep track of technology or are most people just thieves and going for "free" music for the thrill of it?

where do you see your self in 5 years?

[ButchVig]

Originally Posted by Music_Junky

Hi Butch. Thank you for your time and knowledge for the past weeks, it has been a blast.

I was wondering how you feel about the change of music biz with free unlegalized downloads, mp3 and such. Do you think the major label were sleeping and did not act fast enough to keep track of technology or are most people just thieves and going for "free" music for the thrill of it?

where do you see your self in 5 years?

When digital first happened, I don't thank ANYONE knew how profoundly it would change everything, from how we record (ProTools, etc) , to the product (Mp3s), to the distribution (the internet). Knowing what we know now, I'm sure a lot of people in the music biz would have embraced the medium in a much faster, proactive way.

It's funny, a lot of people seem to look at the drop in CD sales as only hurting the corporate suits and the stockholders...but this change affects everyone, especially artists. I've heard lots of BS about how artists can make up for the loss of income by touring...we'll ask anyone who tours a lot and they'll tell you its grueling and expensive, and most bands in the long haul are not going to survive on their ticket sales. I know lots of producers and engineers who are struggling to find work, and a lot of great studios can't afford to keep their doors open. But the current decline can't be entirely blamed on illegal downloading, the economy sucks, and it affects people in every aspect of business, including entertainment.

I kind of feel like this is going to be the worst year, that we've bottomed, and we're going to see some optimism starting next year, not just in the music biz but in the entire country.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing in 5 years...hopefully still making music!