MUSIC AND MUSIC CONTENT. Music content delivery
involves the transporting of music content (usually in digital
form) from a manager of the content (a music producer or their
agent) to the end customer. In the 1990s, much of the content
was sold via the Internet rather than delivered through it due
to the limited amount of bandwidth and devices to store and
play downloaded music content. Downloading a full-length
CD, even in compressed form, is a formidable challenge for the
average user with a dial-up modem. The market for digital distribution
of music in 2002–2003 is estimated at approximately
$150 million. With 3G broadband wireless data, it will be possible
to download entire music CDs in less than 2 minutes.*
The sale of compact discs (CDs) and tapes via online services
is expected to grow to $2.6 billion (14 percent of total U.S.
music sales of $18.4 billion by 2003). Online shopping allows
customers to easily preview content or details of a product such
as tracks on music albums. In 1998, music industry revenue
topped $13.5 billion in the United States, with online sales
totaling $157 million, up 315 percent from 1997’s figure of
$37 million. As 3G wireless networks and other broadband systems
are deployed, consumers will shift their acquisition from
purchasing CDs or tapes to downloading their favorite music
content to their media player.
By 2000, more than half of the users on the Internet had listened
to music audio on a personal computer (PC). Of these, 36
percent have downloadable music and 5 percent have transferred
unauthorized (pirated) music files to their hard disk drive.
As an interim approach to music content delivery on the
Internet, companies are offering digitally compressed music in
MP3 form. In 2000, MP3.com launched subscription music
channels on the Internet. For a monthly fee of less than $10,
users have access to thousands of music tracks to listen to.