Capitalism, creativity and the crisis in the music industry (de-commodification)

The music industry is changing rapidly; the big changes are, all largely the consequences of the development of the internet and of digital media formats which can be reproduced and distributed by anyone, effectively cost free. The losers are those musicians and corporations who have traditionally made their living through selling various types of musical commodity; most obviously recordings in physical format such as vinyl records, cassettes, CDs, etc. The winners are those at the extreme ends of the distribution chain; consumers or users at the button, such as; Apple iTunes store, Google (through YouTube), etc- they are at the top.

One of the central features of this transformation in the music industry is the effective

de-commodification of music. In the 19^th century, with the development of a market for sheet music, and the spread of the public concerts, music became something which could be bought and sold for profit. One of the key effects of the technological changes which I have already mentioned has been severely to weaken the commodity status of these recordings. A commodity always depends for its status and its value on the its relative scarcity; once the reproduction and distribution of that commodity became effectively free, then it means that they suddenly have nothing value to sell.

The aim for musicians is to generate enough income for a decent standard of living which will enable them to keep making music. This may be the same for independent record companies which have never generated large profits above those which are reinvested in support for new music. In the case of large record companies, however, the aim is not simply the generation of acceptable income for their employees, but the long term, uninhibited, and unlimited accumulation of capital.