DEBATE: 5 Bold Predictions About the Music Industry’s Next Decade 

It’s been kind of a sleepy week as people wake up from their relaxing Labor Day weekends, so we’re going to throw a firecracker into the bush and see if anyone flinches. The music industry is nothing, if not full of questions; questions we often mistake for answers in a frustrating time. The music industry has seen great change in the past 10 years, so we’re looking forward into the future 10 years. [DISCLAIMER: We’re not betting on our lives on these predictions. They’re just for fun.]

Major Record Labels Will Be Bought Out by Major Non-Music Corporations

We already know huge corporations still value the audiences music can tap into, and Spotify took advantage of this by forming a partnership with Coca Cola. Eventually, the major record labels will be forced to be bought by bigger companies and consolidate them into marketing divisions, built by great content.

Direct-to-fan will continue to grow

We’ve seen direct-to-fan services erupting in the past few years, and with the struggles of major labels, it’s only natural major artists will get leaner and meaner and operate by themselves and sell and distribute directly to their fans. It won’t be far off when we buy Beyonce albums directly from her website.

Streaming Will Hit a Wall

One way or another, the wild success of streaming music will be forced to downsize and get smarter. Content will be harder to keep with the current rates that streaming services offer to labels and artists. With the subscription fees continuing to be a tough sell to territories outside Europe, advertising funding will begin to shift. Streaming will remain a big player, but some backlash won’t allow it to swallow the market.

Festivals Will Multiply and Ticket Prices Will Spike

Festivals are becoming a huge cash cow for the industry, mostly in EDM music. Expect this trend to continue, and there to be more variety and multiple copycat festivals in more markets. Musicians will be overworked and the music will be washed out, but the fans will keep coming out because festivals have transformed into the premiere music experience.

The Web Will Finally Steal the Music Discovery Throne from Radio

They always say culture moves slower than technology. As we’ve repeatedly argued over here, Radio must no longer be the leading form of music discovery; not just because of the monopoly of content by the major labels, but because of the education of music fans across the world. In 10 years, culture finally catches up to technology in this regard, via music blogs and aggregators.