Duane on Macs

It is been interesting to me all the stories about the death of the music industry and how the record companies are trying to keep their existing business model together. However, it caught me by surprise to read the article today.

I know ever since I got my first mp3 player I have purchased a lot more music, both in digital format and as CDs from Amazon. My teenage daughters also buy a lot of music online (or should I say charge it to my credit card). I’m sure that a lot of kids just copy their friends music, but since the original Napster has been shut down I think the piracy must have stabilized. That is why I was very surprised how quickly Apple bypassed WalMart, especially after Walmart shut down their online music business. Was their online store that bad, or did they expect a much faster ramp up?

Regardless, it is odd after Walmart dictating terms for years to the record companies, now Apple is top dog. It would be interesting to know if the margins for the record companies are better with Apple than Walmart.