Apple, U2, and the future of the music industry

There has been a lot of buzz lately about a new digital music format that U2 and Apple are planning to launch together in the near future, being U2’s next album –the one they will release after Songs of Innocence- the opera prima. Being strong anti piracy advocates, U2 decided to pair with the giant technology mogul in an attempt to come out with something new and exciting that can make people want to buy music again, be it entire albums or single tracks.

Apparently the new format will be interactive, audiovisual and, most importantly, not possible to pirate. This piece of information emerges as the most important bit of news for the music industry in a very long time. If the new format is, indeed, impossible to copy, this could mark the start of yet another change in how the music business works.

In the last decade or so, the music business has been rocked by many changes in consumer behavior and distribution methods. Becoming more and more digital every time, the age we live in right now is dominated by digital downloads and streaming sites that offer artist’s music free of charge to listen to on their website platforms, creating revenue mainly through advertisement and, sometimes, paying members. Because of this, I think piracy is hardly the only thing to blame for people not buying music, although that is not to say that it isn’t an important issue.

Will the release of this new format imply a change in the way we consume music? Maybe, maybe not. Buying music is no longer what it was in the past; but for the huge, devoted fans to any musician, buying their music and their merchandise is still important and is what established bands with following should aim to do. A devoted fan would buy almost anything! (KISS coffin, anyone?).

There is a possibility that smaller artists are the ones that might benefit from this new format, and is allegedly the goal of U2. But that, too, remains to be seen.