Impact and perspectives of electronic commerce (IPEC) : the music industry in the Netherlands

This report is about change in music industry. The Internet is leading to a redefinition of business models and a reconfiguration of relationships within as well as between sectors. The prospect of e-commerce and on-line delivery place the music industry in the vanguard of this change. The central players in this industry are the record companies, and their main product is recorded music. Presently, recorded music is distributed to consumers on physical media, mainly Compact Disks (CD). But digital recordings can now be distributed easily over the Internet. In comparison, for instance, to audio-visual productions, music requires relatively modest bandwidth capacity. However, online delivery of music can be seen as a potential forerunner of on-line distribution of other services with higher bandwidth demands.