We are witnessing a large real life test. Thanks to a screwup of a record company the new album of U2 is all over the P2P networks. It will be interesting to see the impact.
First on the sale of the new CD which is important for record company, but secondly the impact on the revenue of the band, which is the metric for the musicians. The two are not necessarily correlated.
My prediction? A slightly lower sales figure for the record company, a higher income for the musicans due to higher prices and fully packed stadiums when they make a tour.
Access to (digital) music anywhere increases the value of the live experience.
It will be interesting to follow this particular case.
