MP3; it'll destroy all record companies! It'll revolutionize music!
MP3; It'll destroy everything! It'll put bands out on the street!

Probably neither of these things are entirely true, but they do have a grain of truth in them. Just as MP3 isn't as big a threat at the moment as some people make out, it isn't as insignificant as some would have it.

The main question is basically napster; do I or don't I? Because seeing as you can now download an entire album in less then, well, a week, what's the point of buying the records, man? Now obviously if this was simply a case of stopping Metallica from gaining enough money to buy most third world countries, well, fuck them. I don't care if Metallica all die hiddeously in a plane crash, personally. But the issue isn't as simple as that.

Okay, then, say you download whatever the new Metallica album is, then you buy the new Sleater-Kinney album rather than downloading it. Everything's alright, then? Sleater-Kinney, who can't afford not to sell albums, get paid and can continue making music. But hang on, money from records doesn't just go to the artists. It goes to the records companies.

Right! Smash the record companies, then! Yeah, direct action, destroy them all! Er, no. Because if a record company starts losing money, who the hell do you think gets the flak? Metallica? Korn? No. Bands like Sonic Youth or the Flaming Lips, signed to major labels, will get dropped and probably stop touring outside the US. Or subsidurary labels, of which there are many (there are very few true independents), will get axed. What happened to Creation in the UK will happen worldwide. Not that I'm saying that Creation's downfall was because of MP3, but the same sort of results might happen.

Major labels are already tighening down on good music, and playing it safe by producing their own predicable pop pap rather than signing artists. If they can't make enough money with good music, they'll stop supporting it.

Of course there is another way. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's thought of downloading albums, then sending the band the money they'd have got from the CD sale. Well, obviously this sounds all very well, but that doesn't count as a sale in the eyes of the record company, and therefore they're still fucked, even if they have got your five quid.

But MP3 isn't all bad; in fact, it's pretty damn good. Because although illegally downloading music will only make things worse, there is another aspect of the technology, and it's that which really has the record companies scared.

There's the possibility, and it's already emerging, of bands simply not going through record companies, and just releasing pay-for-download MP3s. Or, smaller independent labels could start selling their music online; so if you can't find it in HMV, you can buy it on the internet. This would mean that indie labels could become more global, and people would have a true choice in their music. And seeing as most good new music is on independent labels, if that became more accessible and more popular then hopefully that would mean the record companies might have to compete by, like, signing artists. Who write songs themselves and everyting.

The internet probably will revolutionise music, in the way that it'll probably revolutionise everything else, by making us more interconnected. But at the moment Napster is really just glorified home-taping, only slower.

As a last point, though, Napster does have its uses; it's possible to find rarities and b-sides you wouldn't be able to get hold of normally. And it's got a nice logo...

Addendum: Since I wrote this, Napster is (apparently) out of business. However it's the technology which is interesting. Personally, I think MP3 will begin to replace radio as the dominant means of listeners discovering new talent. Usually, I'd buy records because I'd heard them on the radio; but there are very few good radio programs, and only one half-decent radio station. So already I've started downloading MP3s from bands I've heard of, but not actually heard, before I consider buying the album. If I like what I hear, then I buy the record. This is a sort of personal airplay, which works outside of the publicity machine.

I think Major labels are already exploiting this new technology to publicize acts; equally semi-indies like Chemikal Underground have begun releasing albums online in the hope that you'll listen to them and then buy the record. I think it's only internety twats who only download the MP3s and never buy the album; personally I still want the album, as an object, and not some shitty little computer file. I don't think that will ever change from my point of view, and I don't see any reason why it should. Still, that said, I think the pop market in particular might well be hit by MP3 in the future, as download times decrease; after all, anyone who only wants the single probably isn't too bothered about the artwork on the sleeve, and would be equally happy with the song on its own, particularly if they don't have to pay for it.
 

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