Futurist conversation: Gerd Leonhard and Ross Dawson on the future of music

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Continuing our series of conversations on the future between Gerd Leonhard and myself, today’s session is on the future of music.

Here are a few of the points we made:

* There is less money than there used to be in music, and there will be even less money in future, but music will still prosper
* Collaborative filtering has been around for some time and will be fundamental to our music experience
* Social music is currently being brought to life as a space by Turntable.fm
* Music is going back to performing and sharing, as musicians are looking for audiences rather than unit sales
* Music used to be ‘productized’ into vinyl and CDs, but music as a product is dead
* Music as an experience, using services such as Spotify, Mogg, Last.FM, Pandora, is the right stream
* The recorded music industry has shrunk by 70% over the last decade as the music companies have refused to shift to music as experience
* While many musicians are making money from performing and ancillary products, that doesn’t suit all musicians
* Flat rate music services could be bundled into ISPs, with premium pricing for characteristics such as quality
* Shifting product sales to broader availability can create value for everyone
* The music industry is $17 billion compared to $3 trillion for media, mobile, and communications