Adapt or Die

The Internet has overturned the existing order of many industries: journalism, encyclopedias, bookstores…and also music. But why have the existing powers in each of those industries been unable to adapt to the brave, new world of the Internet? Ron Miller hits the nail on the head when he writes:

“The Internet is the best distribution channel ever created and it’s up to musicians and record companies to figure out how to exploit it. And here’s a hint: It’s not the old way of selling records.”

Miller may have written about the music industry but his theme applies for the others as well: distribution is easier than at any other time in history but the powers that be haven’t adjusted to find a new way to make money.

The music industry got saved (in part) due to the iPod and more importantly, Steve Jobs. Not a man known for his people skills, Jobs berated the music bigwigs of the time:

“You guys have your heads up your asses.”

The music industry of the day was fighting (and losing) the battle against online piracy and so reluctantly let Jobs be their savior (Jobs, of course, took his pound of flesh but that’s another story). One of the big changes Jobs brought to the music industry was to split the album: You could buy individual songs, not necessarily the whole album. Jobs had to fight hard to make that happen but his reasons were purely pragmatic:

“Piracy and online downloads had already deconstructed the album.”

A reality that the music industry had been unwilling to face up to! And when Jobs launched the iPod, he could even coax people who were downloading pirated songs to go legal, like when he said:

“Worst of all, it’s (piracy) stealing. It’s best not to mess with karma.”

Sure, adapting ain’t easy, but as Neil Gaiman points out, even Charles Dickens did it:

“I remembered what Charles Dickens did, a hundred and fifty years before, when copyright laws meant that his copyrights were worth nothing in the US: he was widely read, but he was not making any money from it. So he took the piracy as advertising, and toured the US in theatres, reading from his books. He made money, and he saw America.”

The disrupted industries need to act fast and find a solution themselves a la Dickens, or find a savior a la Jobs. Burying their heads in the sand and ranting against the Google’s and the Facebook’s of the world is not a solution. Unless they want to go the Britannica way.