Music, Video and Software business models paradigm shift underway

When did you last buy a CD? I didn't buy one for a pretty long time and the last one I bought was from an artist I like nearly every single piece of work he creates, Pat Metheny. Is then the music business going away for a free show? Of course not, because one buys legally music on-line. Do we really?

NPD Group, a market research firm, gave us some clues recently in publishing a new report about the music industry. Here are in shorts the finding for 2007:

1. 48% of all teenagers never bought a CD (38% in 2006)
   
2. CD sold in the U.S. fell 19% from 2006
3. Apple iTunes (selling only digital downloads) is now the #2 music shop in the U.S. jumping ahead Best Buy and trailing Wal-Mart
4. 29 Million people bought music legally from online music stores, up from 24 Million in 2006 i.e. + 21%

I'm convinced buying singles or albums on-line is not the ultimate business model. What about subscribing for a monthly fee of about $20 to listen to all the music you can get legally? Store it on your MP3 device when you're not connected for as long as you pay for your subscription?

You like this idea? All the music you can get for a flat fee? What about Video
And what about for FREE?

Well checkout hulu.com, all the video you can get on-line for free, because you get advertising with it. Unfortunately only in the U.S. for now.

... and what about software? What about a flat monthly fee to access a dedicated application portfolio coming out from several vendors, a bouquet of SaaS focusing on a business or personal matter (Sales, Marketing, ...).

Let's watch this e-commerce space carefully as music and videos are paving the way when it gets down to digital goods business models tsunamis.