It is widely accepted that the World Wide Web has changed the way in which the world does most of its communication and commerce. Many new industries have appeared as a direct result of the Internet and the Web. However, some previously existing industries have changed irrevocably. The Music Industry is one of these industries.

Much of the information dispatched from the music business establishment in regards to the effect the rise of the Internet has had on the industry has been negative and generally pessimistic (Siwek, 2007). However, the financial health of a few major companies and the strength of the industry as a whole are two very different things. It is true that the original “Big 6” record labels of the 1990s have systematically merged over the last 15 years into just three: Japanese-owned Sony Music, French-owned Universal Music Group and the American-owned Warner Group (Busch, 2012). And, those organizations continue to report their fiscal challenges are largely due to a decline in physical recorded music sales from file sharing with peer-to-peer networking technology. However, many of the causes for the loss of revenue by these companies appear to remain in some dispute (Oberholzer‐Gee & Strumpf, 2007). Regardless, many sectors of the music and the larger entertainment industry have actually had increased levels of growth over the same period (Lee, 2012). In part, this paper will attempt to explain some of that. However, the primary focus of this project is to examine and suggest what Internet technology can do for the creators of the actual product that is at issue: the music. Specifically, recorded music and the related products that are produced because of the music being created and recorded in the first place. The creators of this music are musicians, songwriters, artists and composers and it is to those people that this project is meant to address.

Part 1: A History Of Decentralization