The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution

The Future of Music is a book full of interesting ideas and well-thought out scenarios about how the music industry is changing, but because of the way it is all presented, it is easy to miss on some of the most important concepts and ideas that author David Kusek is trying to point out. I enjoyed how right of the gate Kusek portrayed an ordinary day in the year 2015, which at the time this book was written, considered way into the future. The scary part is, most of what he portrayed was actually pretty close to what is actually going on. The average person will, "...put on your new eyeglasses, which contain a networked audio headset, letting tiny earbuds slip into your ears" (Kusek, 1). Unfortunately, the entirety of the book reads like a list with no emotion put into it, with him going from point A to B to C. I am currently undergoing an ethnography project, which is a qualitative study of a certain culture in society. This book gave me new ways to see how musicians are changing the business. He sums it up perfectly when he says, "Content is king, the customer is King Kong, and service is Godzilla" (Kusek 92). However, since it was written so long ago (2005), the main points are difficult to keep with me since the game has drastically changed. The Future of Music is a great read for anyone who wants to jump into the ever changing industry of music, but also lacks certain momentum to keep the ideas naturally flowing.

Lots of good stuff here for music lovers as well as musicians. Not being a music industry insider, my eyes did glaze over once or twice - sorry, guys. But the good parts outweigh the bad, and there is some pure gold here.Did you know that the artist gets only 8% of a CD sale? This is about to change, since "... music belongs to the people, not to the multinational corporations that have controlled and exploited it over the past seventy-five years or so. The people, both fans and musicians alike, will decide what kind of future we want." Many of the authors' ideas can be applied outside the music business, too.All in all, a worthwhile read.

Written with a smoothly flowing cadence this tome engages both the expert and layman reader and offers a survey of the digital music landscape from both a 30,000-foot-view *and* on a rubber-meets-the-road level. This book provocative, interesting and on appropriate occasions humorous. The writer's occasional biting statements are more cheeky than sarcastic as the authors' genuine adoration of music and the business of music is evident. This book can be appreciated by the casual reader, industry members, fans of technology and students of sociology, economics, history and even observers of the human condition. Although the book is about the impending world of music the book, like the subject it covers, is really describing future cycles of patterns springing from places deeply encoded in human nature. A philosophical discussion, this volume is also an industry handbook. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested any aspect of music, or most aspects of technology, philosophy, economics, social behavior, law or history.

For the most part, whenever authors write about new media and the Internet, the book is dated by the time the ink dries. For the most part "The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution" is still ahead of the curve. David Kusek and Gerd Leonhard take chances. Most futurists do. Some of their visions are hitting the bull's eye now in March, 2005 although the book was published two years ago. That's pretty good aim. It reads well too.

I haven't finished reading this book yet, but so far it's been inspiring. The writers create very feasible scenarios for where the music industry is headed in the next few years. In fact, the book is about 2 years old now and some of the predictions are already coming true. For example; mobile devices like phones and PDAs converging and becoming delivery services for music, social networking services like Myspace (not mentioned in the book, presumably because it had not yet become popular) coming to the foreground as a way to listen to and exchange music, the idea of music as a utility or a subscription which has recently become a more popular option with various download services. I'm looking forward to finishing this book and taking my new-found inspiration online.

Got this book as it was included in many of the Berkelee School of Music music business courses. All in all a decent read, however, I wouldnt recommend this to anyone with a decent grasp on current music technology. Consider this more a primer for people interested on learning about the Music Business and the technology involved rather than for those who have experience in the field.I suppose paired with a course on the subject and open discussion this book would be more appropriate. Would be interesting to sit in on a course in which this book is being used as text to see how much specific knowledge I actually gained in reading it.

I borrowed this book from a colleague a couple of years ago and read it then but decided to get my own copy because some of my research is in on technological changes in the music industry. It's an interesting book because the authors envision music being offered as a utility, like water or electricity. The ideas are very forward looking and it is easy to see that the authors are not "married" to the old technology but rather using their imaginations to think about where the technology will take music. You might not agree with everything they say but it's interesting to think about their ideas and reframing how music can be delivered.

For musicians, producers and anyone who is involved in the music industry who would like a glimpse of how the music industry is changing and what it would be like in the next few years to come. A good read of the future of music.

With the current change in the record industry, this book explains how and why the current music industry trends have had to change and the effect this has on all music businesses. The book came in excellent condition and I have already started to use quotes from it on the BTEC and Rockschool music business courses I teach on. I think the last update was 2007, although everything the authors have mentioned has either happened or is due to happen. I can't wait for a new update. Can't recommend it enough.

fine

An insightful book based on global and historic industry patterns that predict an accurate future [im reading it late!]. Still valuable, still excellent.

Great book and came incredibly fast! helped me so much with my work at uni

Excellent product!