Chapter 1254 Digital Sound Source
"So you're visiting today purely as a friend?"
Simple, direct and to the point.
But unlike Edgar and Lucas, Anson always had a smile on his eyes and lips, and he was straight to the point and straightforward without any sense of offence.
Matt was stunned for a moment, then realized that now was not the time to continue doing Tai Chi.
Last night was the Grammy Awards ceremony. Early this morning, he temporarily went to the William Morris Agency to intercept Edgar and visit Anson——
The key point lies in one word: fast.
Now, Anson is right in front of him, he shouldn't just stand here and sigh.
"No, it's not." Matt showed his sophistication and quickly switched states.
Anson gently raised his chin, showing a clear expression, and made an invitation gesture, "Please sit down."
Matt sat down and did not continue to be secretive, "Last night's performance was very exciting. The entire performance concept is amazing and completely different from other performances."
Anson, "Ha, this was the purpose. Now it seems that the effect has been achieved."
Matt, "Of course. For a layman like me, it's like opening the door to a whole new world. Although I can't speak any professional vocabulary, I just like it. Those melodies have been swirling in my mind."
“I have always liked ‘Wake Me Up’ the most, but I didn’t expect that it was the first song that kept echoing in my head last night...”
Matt looked at Anson.
Anson, "'Another Light.'"
Matt, "Ah, 'Another Light.'" Chewing carefully, he couldn't help but sigh, "So it's called this."
Anson, "It seems that you are also a person with a story."
Matt was puzzled.
Anson, "Ordinary people are often easily impressed by drumbeats and rhythms, especially on carnival stages like the Grammys; but those with stories often cannot forget the emotional impact moments that awaken their memories."
"So, either you are a person with a story, or you are..."
The words did not continue, Anson showed a smile and cut off the conversation.
Matt immediately realized that Anson was obviously trying to make a lie, and the point was that he was completely unaware that he had stepped into a trap. It was clear that he was the one who dug the trap at the beginning of this conversation.
Sure enough, the person who can defeat Sony Colombia is not an easy person.
Matt smiled generously and jumped into the trap following Anson's words, "Yes, that's it. I'm curious when the band is going to release this single? What do you think about us releasing this single?" < br>
No more going around in circles, tearing apart, and unveiling the mystery in one fell swoop.
Where did this idea come from?
Edgar and Lucas exchanged glances. Neither of them concealed their surprise. In the flash of lightning, their thoughts surged rapidly.
Anson did not expect such a turn. He raised his eyebrows slightly and chuckled, "So, is Apple ready to officially enter the music distribution business and compete with Warner Records?"
On August 31, the band had disbanded and parted ways with Warner Records, but the matter was still a secret and there was no need to reveal their trump card immediately.
Matt waved his hand gently, "No, no, no, no, we do not have such ability and ambition for the time being, and this is not the business direction of our company."
"Cooperation. It should be cooperation."
"We are ready to cooperate with major record companies like Warner Records, or to be more precise, with musicians like you."
Anson's mind moved, and he seemed to know what Matt was playing - digital sound source.
As a witness of the times who traveled back twenty years later, Anson is very familiar with digital audio sources. Later, the market space for physical albums gradually disappeared, and digital audio sources became fully popular and entered the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
However, now?
Digital sound sources are still a new force and are facing resistance from singers.
The reason is very simple. The current technology is not perfect, and digital audio sources cannot prevent piracy. Most of the digital audio sources circulated on the Internet are transcribed from CDs and disseminated illegally, seriously damaging the royalties income of singers.
Not only do record companies hate it, but singers suffer from it too.
This can be intuitively felt from the sales figures. In the 1990s, an album could easily sell five million, but now it is very difficult to sell three million.
Of course, these figures mainly focus on singers at the top of the pyramid. In some years, the sales volume in the music market is stronger, and in other years, it is lower. The singers led by them are still popular, with album sales easily exceeding 10 million, so where does the downturn in the music market begin?
Global Recording Industry Revenues.
According to statistics from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, in 1999, the global recording industry's revenue and profits were US$25 billion. This figure has continued to spiral downward in the past four years. In 2003, the global recording industry's revenue and profits had fallen. to $21 billion.
In just four years, the decline rate exceeded 15%.
Piracy of digital audio sources is the main culprit.
It’s not just about piracy. Digital audio sources have completely changed the way people listen to music. In addition to the decline in physical album sales, pirated digital audio sources cannot bring in effective income. This makes the global music industry fall into quicksand and continue to fall.
On the surface, it looks like a lively scene. In 2003, singers such as Fifty Cents, Beyoncé, and August 31st were still popular.
In fact, the entire music industry can feel the continued harshness of winter. Even the account numbers of top musicians are significantly reduced, not to mention those unknown musicians who are struggling in the 18th line?
The reason why the band's opening performance in the second half of the 46th Grammy Awards ceremony on August 31 created such an impact and made such waves is also due to the background of the entire era.
As Anson said, continue to believe in music and continue to believe in dreams. Even a small existence like Archie is still lighting up a small part of the world.
Bring back the topic.
At this moment, an unrelated Matt came to visit, and Anson immediately made an association in his mind. This should be a historical node.
Sure enough, Matt confirmed Anson’s suspicion——
iTunes.
As a music player, iTunes was officially launched in 2001. After a long history of twenty years, it was finally officially offline in 2021 and replaced by emerging online music source applications.
However, at the moment, iTunes is an innovative force at the forefront of the times.
Currently, there are many companies around the world trying to protect the copyright of digital music sources and explore new music listening models in the Internet era. Various websites and music players are springing up like mushrooms after a rain, and iTunes is one of them.
It was not until 2003, that is, last year, that iTunes officially started the digital audio source encryption business. The technology is mature, but it is not universal.
To put it simply, digital audio sources purchased on iTunes can only be played on Apple devices through iTunes——
Currently, it's mainly the iPod.
Although this can effectively protect the copyright of digital audio sources, the shortcomings are also obvious:
What if you don’t have an Apple device? Or do you own an Apple device but want to listen on other devices on other occasions?
Such limitations mean that the promotion of iTunes is still in its preliminary stages, not only slow, but also with no solution in sight.
This problem was left to the newly appointed Matt to solve.
And today, Matt came to look for the "solution":
Anson Wood.
(End of chapter)