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by R. Feldman

Should publishers write off mechanical royalties? With physical sales In a tailspin, increasing P2P usage, and groups like Radiohead virtually giving music away to promote their live concerts - maybe we should !

 Yes, there’s the promise of the “digital revolution” but business models ranging from I-tunes, SpiralFrog, ad supported, Rhapsody, subscription models, to P2P intermediation schemes like SnoCap have not shown they can will replace revenue from lost physical sales. (Even ringtones -  which benefit a relatively small percentage of publishers – could be vulnerable at some point when consumers realize they can make and upload their own ringtone to nearly every phone on the market.)   

 So what’s slowng the digital distribution revolution? Free Music- whether from Limewire, Youtube or your friend who’s more than happy to burn “the gift of music” for you.

So, do we say “Hail Mary” and pray for sync fees and performance royalties? Can we count on these sources of revenue to increase as more and more music creators target film, television and Madison Ave.?

 Maybe there are other solutions worth exploring.

Here are three:

 1.    STOP RIAA LITIGATION: The RIAA should quit suing illegal down-loaders and refund settlement fees they have collected. We need more friends, and fewer enemies. They could save the legal fees for something that might actually change the dynamic (see #3).

 2.         REDUCE PRICES: Reduce the price of a single download to 50 cents and the online price of a CD to $5.00. Critics argue this would irrevocably devalue music – I submit this has already occurred.