The Record Business vs the Music Business

This is Celia Hirschman of On the Beat for KCRW.

100 millionth iPod, media analysts were singing a far different tune. The Financial Times reported that the record industry should prepare for two more years of declining sales. In fact, the report went on to project that overall music sales in 2009 will be half what it was, at the peak of the CD boom.

They were wrong.

Think of the record industry and the music business as two distinctly different businesses. Related, but separate. The record business is based on the continual selling of CD's, DVD's and tracks. It's a business morphing into a shadow of its former self, because folks aren't buying the products. But the music business is alive and well. That’s a business built on helping consumers discover music and connect with artists. The music business is about supporting artists by going out to live shows, and buying music directly from them. Thanks to the iPod and the Internet, millions are now enjoying this business.

Tonic, one of the more interesting nightclubs in the lower east side, is closing its doors this week. It's the fourth nightclub to close in recent months. In early April, the rock club Sine closed its doors, also being pushed out of the hotly valued Lower East Side. Late last year, CBGB closed on the newly minted million-dollar Bowery. And in the past couple of years, we said goodbye to Brownies in the East Village, The Bottom Line in the West Village, and the Continental Club at St. Marks Place. Rock clubs in Manhattan built the music scene of the 1980's and 90's, but those days are over.

On the Beat for KCRW.