Does the emergence of the digital downloading signal the end for the music industry?

The music industry, notoriously cautious and averse to change has a history of fear concerning new technologies. As cassettes became widely available, piracy became a predicament for the first time, consequently, an Anti-Piracy campaign was introduced in the 80”s. It must be noted, the music industry survived cassette, making the concept that music downloading will have the same perceived impact illogical.

This can be explored through Radio-Head's album leak to Napster in 2000. Illegally downloaded by millions it was expected to washout, it-in fact went straight to number one. This demonstrates Lawrence Lessig four categories of file-sharing, particularly the category of ‘those that download music to sample ahead of purchase’.

The iTunes store profoundly impacted legal downloads, recently selling its 10-billionth download, proving people are willing to-pay for music. This limits the cost and threat (to the industry) of illegal downloading to Lessig’s group: ‘those who download rather than buy’.