Moreover, the corporate suits might also consider lowering CD prices

Well, they've been doing that for a couple of years, though, perhaps the author means the prices should be still lower. I seldom see CDs in the range of 17-19 dollars, though that was the standard 3 years ago. 14-16 is far more common anymore, which still isn't as good as the $8 i pay for a used cd returned within a few weeks or months by some fickle buyer. The labels might be able to cut a bit more, but i think the author's next suggestion is far better. That is :

...and while they're at it, [reduce] licensing fees for the subscription services, as well.

Of course, the price the labels may demand for such lowered fees, if they're even smart enough to see the need, may be differential pricing. In my mind the jury is still out on this issue... i see both sides of it and can't quite come to a conclusion. Still, the labels want it, and it's a concession that may be required of the vendors before too long.

The author's statement that the technology is ready to do without the labels is too simple, since he ignores the fact that technology has greatly revolutionized the distribution end, but isn't quite there on the creation and transaction handling aspects. I don't think those problems are far from solutions either, so his general theory, that the majors are in deep shit, is quite true, i think. In fact, we've been saying so for years. Truly, they need to get on board with the new business models emerging, or they *will* die. I don't consider that a negative outcome because i have much love for the labels, but because, in the short and medium term, an abrupt transition in that form will be bad for music. The fallout of those giant corporations crashing will simply demolish much that is good.

[ -k ]

Music Biz Blues

] Sun has long promised that it would open-source Solaris,
] but it has yet to answer in detail how it will deal with
] questions about The SCO Group Inc.'s Unix intellectual
] property claims

[ By ignoring them? That's what everyone else has pretty much been doing. Christ, is that case even close to being over yet? Please. -k]

Analysts: Sun's Open Solaris Plans Face Problems

] Microsoft Internet Explorer is continuing to lose share
] in the browser market, as its much-smaller competitors
] chisel at its dominant position, new Web site visitor
] data shows.

[ Thank fucking god. Maybe someday i'll be able to implement a site according to web standards and have it actually work. -k]

Internet Explorer Loses More Market Share

] Here is IBM's Redacted Memorandum in Support of Motion
] for Partial Summary Judgment On Breach of Contract
] Claims, filed by IBM on Friday. As you will see, they are
] going for the jugular now. Astoundingly, they say that
] all parties involved in the contract between AT&T and IBM
] have now provided testimony in discovery that IBM has the
] right to do whatever it wishes with its own code,
] contrary to SCO's claims, or as the memorandum puts it,
] they all provided "unequivocal testimony that the
] agreements were not intended and should not be understood
] to preclude IBM's use and disclosure of homegrown code
] and contemporaneous documents reflect this interpretation
] of the licenses".

[ *SMACK*

Bold mine. -k]

IBM Goes for the Jugular vs SCO -- GROKLAW

] Royal Bank of Canada has notified SCO it has elected to
] convert 10,000 shares of SCO's Series A-1 Convertible
] Preferred Stock it currently holds into a total of
] 740,740 shares of SCO's common stock. Further, it has
] sold 20,000 shares of Series A-1 stock to BayStar so that
] "after completion of the conversion, Royal Bank of Canada
] will have no equity interest in SCO other than the shares
] of common stock it receives from the conversion."

[ Well, we knew that was coming, no? SCO continues it's circumnavigation of the bowl, on their way down the drain... -k]

RBC Cashes out of SCO

]
] Now it's getting interesting. BayStar wants SCO to
] immediately redeem BayStar's 20,000 shares of SCO's A-1
] Convertible Preferred Stock. They say SCO has breached
] their agreement. SCO denies any breach. Here is the
] agreement that they are fighting over. Here is the press
] release. My, this was a short honeymoon.

BayStar is basically telling SCO they want their $20M back.

[ HA! Fuck you BayStar! You bet a lot of money on a very, VERY uncertain outcome (SCO beating IBM) and only then realized you'd tied yourself to a ship that's this close to a major iceberg impact, followed by flooding and lamentations and SINKING.

It was a risky speculation, investing in a company as, uh, tainted, as SCO, and they got hosed. Even if suits are brought, SCO may not even exist long enough to be served by them. Painful, but, man, I wonder if selling off those shares before demanding redemption was an option... SCO was at 9.66 this morning, it's at 8.40 now... that's a 13% drop. I see no good outcome for SCO or for BayStar. -k]

Baystar Sends SCO a Letter

] No sooner has digital tunes really started to catch on,
] we hear that the $0.99-per-song -- or less, if you go to
] Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) -- price tag is being threatened.
] According to The Wall Street Journal, the recording
] industry has been trying to cook up ways to charge folks
] more for music. Even Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iTunes and
] Roxio's (Nasdaq: ROXI) Napster services have been
] charging premiums for some of the big names and hot new
] releases, the article said.

[ Yeah, awesome. Lets kill this whole music downloads thing before it even starts. -k]

The Death of Dollar Downloads? [Motley Fool Take] April 7, 2004

]
] NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - Sun Microsystems Inc.
] (nasdaq: SUNW - news - people) and Microsoft Corp.
] (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people) on Friday settled their
] long-running legal battle over patents and unfair
] competition, setting the stage for the arch-rivals to
] enter a new era of cooperation over their competing
] technologies.

[ Also noted are 3300 new people to add to the unemployment rolls as Sun slashes 10% of it's workforce. -k]

Sun, Microsoft settle long-running disputes