Established Artists Like Chili Peppers Face Harsh New Paradigm

"…Future-focused labels and acts are beginning to craft strategies that maximize touring, merchandising, and online receipts, while minimizing the importance of recorded sales. But groups like the Chili Peppers were born-and-bred in an earlier era, one that is characterized by defined album releases and bundled purchases. Now, that approach is facing more and more challenges.."

"…CD sales may be dying, but they still bring in billions of dollars annually. And forcing existing, major acts into an advanced digital strategy would only reduce existing revenues, and create more financial problems for labels. Moving forward, a newer breed of top artists will have to adopt radically different strategies to survive. But that thinking should be implemented at the beginning of careers, not in the middle of existing, successful ones."

– Paul Resnikoff of Digital Music News on the impact and implications of the new Chili Peppers’ CD being leaked to P2P’s just prior to release. 

More on the Chili Peppers leak and leader Flea’s reaction here.