Addressing delegates at The Great Escape last week, Cooke explained that because the music industry had been largely resistant to innovative new digital music models until around 2008, it was now only halfway through its exploration phase.
‘[Back in 2008] the music industry started an experiment, and we’re halfway through that. How are digital services evolving from a licensing perspective, and a price point and user perspective?'
Cooke went on to say that six years ago executives at the top of the music industry began to realise that digital was going to be the predominant force but had no idea what form it would take.
‘They thought, “Let’s license as many new services we can. Let’s try to do business where we can with as many new innovative businesses and to get as much money upfront as we can”.
‘So, whatever happens, they bring in some decent revenues over the next 10 years. And during that period of experimentation they could work out what the future of the recorded music business was going to be.’
A rampant period of licensing and innovation followed, that could allow the industry to map out the future of the recorded music business – however, concrete conclusions have yet to be completely pinned down.
‘If we say that digital music started in 1998 – that’s when the eMusics started to arrive before Napster. In those first five years of digital, it seemed as though those big rights companies, particularly record companies, predominantly said, “No. We’re going to protect our CD business and we’re saying no to these new digital models”.
‘Then Steve Jobs came along, iTunes launched and suddenly it was, “Yes, alright then – we get iTunes”. The service then exploded in the US and UK. Suddenly if you arrived at a record label with a download store, they’d license you.
‘Around 2008, you sensed that the record companies started to change their mood. They started to realise that certain digital was the future, and probably iTunes wasn’t the exclusive digital future – or possibly any of the digital future, if you look 20 years into the distance. Something else was going to happen.’
‘[Back in 2008] the music industry started an experiment, and we’re halfway through that. How are digital services evolving from a licensing perspective, and a price point and user perspective?'
Cooke went on to say that six years ago executives at the top of the music industry began to realise that digital was going to be the predominant force but had no idea what form it would take.
‘They thought, “Let’s license as many new services we can. Let’s try to do business where we can with as many new innovative businesses and to get as much money upfront as we can”.
‘So, whatever happens, they bring in some decent revenues over the next 10 years. And during that period of experimentation they could work out what the future of the recorded music business was going to be.’
A rampant period of licensing and innovation followed, that could allow the industry to map out the future of the recorded music business – however, concrete conclusions have yet to be completely pinned down.
‘If we say that digital music started in 1998 – that’s when the eMusics started to arrive before Napster. In those first five years of digital, it seemed as though those big rights companies, particularly record companies, predominantly said, “No. We’re going to protect our CD business and we’re saying no to these new digital models”.
‘Then Steve Jobs came along, iTunes launched and suddenly it was, “Yes, alright then – we get iTunes”. The service then exploded in the US and UK. Suddenly if you arrived at a record label with a download store, they’d license you.
‘Around 2008, you sensed that the record companies started to change their mood. They started to realise that certain digital was the future, and probably iTunes wasn’t the exclusive digital future – or possibly any of the digital future, if you look 20 years into the distance. Something else was going to happen.’
