Dear Mr. Record Label Guy,

I have noticed that you have been scrambling since 2000 trying to figure out how the internet works, but the answer is right in front of your face. Instead of trying to put file sharers and bloggers in jail, you need to take advantage of what’s going on in cyberspace.

For those of you not familiar with the subscription model, this is the napster/limewire like service where you pay x-amount of dollars per month for unlimited access to mp3 files. Now throw streaming internet radio into the mix (i.e. pandora, last fm, etc.) and you have yet another outlet that is reaching millions of listeners daily. As everyone knows (except for you suits), first week record sales are no longer important nor do they measure the success of an artist (just ask Usher or Mariah). A new system needs to be put in place for artists. Album sales probably won’t exist anymore in the near future so you’re going to have to start thinking of how revenue can be made by cutting deals with different services while using albums as promotional tools (just ask Prince or Radiohead). I think it’s obvious that listeners don’t want to pay for music unless there is some sort of benefit/product that is being offered. So please, wake up and smell the hard drive (pause) and start putting some thought into these artist’s future instead of throwing a bunch of crap at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Sincerely,

Fresh