The Singularity Is Near

"The Singularity Is Near" is a great intriguing book by futurist & inventor Ray Kurzweil. I will not go into details on his main arguments, about the not so distant era when machines & humans will merge as a basic condition to survive, in a world ruled by artificial technological means & exponential trends, surpassing the limited (linear) biological human intelligence. For a closer look into his theories, watch the attached video below. While reading his book, I also found his short analysis for the music industry and how it is affected by the digital revolution.

As the old business models of charging the consumer with high fixed prices to purchase CD's have gone astray, intellectual property as an information system strengthening the value of music products & services in the digital world, is gaining more & more importance. At the same time, the barriers of breaking into infringement territories are narrowing down because of increased piracy phenomena.

If the present music industry reshapes its problematic business models to balance the technological upheaval by setting lower purchasing prices, the music customer will follow, choosing less piracy to gain access to his beloved creative content. I can only agree with these points which by the way, formulated my master thesis around the customer for digital platforms.

- SK