Abstract

Within the content industries Recorded Music was certainly the first to suffer, and heavily so, the effects of new ways of accessing and consuming contents made available by the internet and by 3G mobile phone networks. With overall sales decreasing by fifty per cent in less than ten years this industry was brought to a point of almost no-return until it realized that digital was not just a critical problem but also part of the solution. By renouncing to impose digital rights management systems (DRMs) and above all by making more and more of their catalogues available in hundreds of formats through several different digital commercial platforms operating legally over the net, the industry is slowly recovering. Nevertheless a convincing business model has yet to emerge and the current ways of remuneration make up just a fraction of what used to be the industry turnover up to year 2000. A recovery is on its way but the key issue remains how to get rid of piracy further prompted by illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing and reach beyond an overwhelming attitude to «free» consumption of contents.