An Attempt At Survival

With the industry heavily focused on how to profit beyond physical CD sales a few strategies have been implemented. According to a December 7, 2007 Rolling Stone Magazine, the newest Internet music fad is online subscriptions. By simply subscribing to an online entity such as Rhapsody for a monthly fee, a person is able to listen to an endless amount of music, instead of purchasing one track at a time or buying an entire album from one artist. 

The reality of these offers is, sales will only cover individual song sales instead of albums and further weaken the record label industry as the cost to make an album will not equal the revenue generated from the purchase of one song unless it is a best selling hit.  Subscriptions such as this are practically the equivalent to subscribing to Sirius satellite radio. 

Others feel Subscriptions may be a remedy for record labels to sustain steady revenue and become the new business model for such companies. The industry seems to believe that by supporting Web sites that offer subscriptions, the revenue lost through Internet piracy can become manageable once again. According to the December 7, 2007 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, record label companies such as Columbia, Universal, Sony and Warner music are enthusiastic about their plans for Internet subscriptions and believe it is “a move against Apple’s digital-music dominance.”