The video peer sharing network YouTube last week announced plans to allow its millions of users to download every music video ever made, free. YouTube's download service is bad news for Apple's successful iTunes site, which charges users $3.39 to download videos to their iPods.
The rise of the internet has caused a revolution in the music industry. Sampling and purchase of music, the focal point of youth culture, has progressively shifted to the internet.
File-sharing programs like Napster and the Australian-based Kazaa allowed users to freely share their copies of copyrighted music without regard to rights holders. Court cases have seen these free services closed down.
The popularity of the MP3 file and Apple's now ubiquitous iPod has legitimised the Internet as a major source of music. Much of today's output is purchased and downloaded from the Internet from large music companies including Apple's own iTunes. Each of these sites allows the visitor to search by music genre, artist or song.
The physical music store is in serious decline as people buy and download online.
The internet is also used today as both a promotional and a distribution method for music. MySpace, the youth social networking phenomenon, is providing the vehicle for many young wannabe and established artists to promote their songs.
Established international Australian rock group Jet used MySpace Australia to promote a 'secret' gig to their loyal fans just before the ARIA Awards, which were held in Melbourne last week. Visitors to the music section of MySpace Australia were invited to a suburban Melbourne hotel.
Within the Australian music section of MySpace, many established bands such as Perth's Eskimo Joe also have sites with music available to stream and publicity about forthcoming tours and concerts. The site also offers many promotional special features such as the ability to exclusively listen to a track 'Colour of a Carnival' from Australian artist Kasey Chambers' new album 'Carnival' prior to its commercial launch on 19 August.
Based around the English-Welsh border is a teenage band Syren for Life, which is writing and recording well-regarded, listenable music. Aged between 14 and 17, and all attending a school in Monmouth in Wales, Syren for Life has a fascinating website on MySpace. A very slick song with popular resonance titled 'A Mourn for the Lost' can be played and downloaded from MySpace. The band is currently recording a four track EP which no