The Evolution of Business Models and Marketing Strategies in the Music

This article provides a strategic analysis using a services marketing framework of 3 business models in the music industry: the traditional music industry; renegade peer-to-peer music file trading; and new, legiti-mate online downloading services. Key recommendations are made on how new, legitimate services can suc-ceed using convergent marketing strategies. Finally, a conclusion is provided addressing the future of the music industry and other media-related industries. Digital Distribution of Music Since 1999, the Internet has drastically altered the pro-duction, distribution, and consumption of music (Molteni & Ordanini, 2003). Digital music distribution via unauthorized consumer peer-to-peer (P2P) file trad-ing has become one of the most popular Internet activi-ties throughout the world via the renegade pioneer Napster and now current unauthorized organizations such as the popular Kazaa. The term unauthorized refers to the fact that the music currently traded on P2P net-works is not licensed by record labels and copyright holders, and under the law throughout the world, is ille-gal. (An explanation of this issue can be found a