A New Era for the Music Industry

The UK music industry is going to have to get used to being regulated. It has no-one but itself to blame for this, having lobbied hard to get ISPs forced by Government into some kind of anti-infringement process.

Music is a small industry. The people are known to each other, and while many would say it is over-lawyered the contracts it works on are more like a social security system than a mechanistic reflection of the handshake deals that drive the business.

I happen to think this a good thing. At its best the music industry creates sheer magic out of common and everyday stuff through the agency of what can best be described as a troupe of levitating priests. It does not bear rational enquiry and scrutiny.

But part of the deal in asking for intervention from Government is that music will have to undergo a regular strip search and intimate examination. Ofcom is gearing up to perform its obligations under the Digital Economy Act and you can almost hear the latex gloves being snapped on.

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