Amazing interview about "The Future of Music"

Corante interviews Gerd Leonhard and Dave Kusek, authors of "The Future of Music" about flat-fee services, pro-rated payments for artists, and a host of other uptopian-sounding ideas that are closer to reality than you might think:

We're in a cut-and-paste culture where almost anyone can run recording equipment and make some sense of it without sounding obviously amateurish (well, at least sometimes). More recording artists can produce their music at home, directly on their computer systems, for far lower costs than going to a recording studio. And, instead of making an expensive music video for promotional purposes, you can do it yourself using iMovie and Flash. Yes, none of that will be 'professional' enough to compare to Sting’s latest record, but Corante does not have to compare to CNN to carve out a good niche, either.

So, if we can find a way for such music product /services to sell only 10.000 - 20,000 copies, the producer/artists can still do really well. With lower production costs, the product won't need to sell 200,000 - or even a million - copies to break even. An entire middle-class of artists can emerge, rather than the traditional "Rolls-Royce or Bicycle" culture that used to prevail in the music industry

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