Is the Music Industry Dead?

Ben Domenech believes so. I don't know if it's dead yet, but I don't think it can survive much longer in its present state -- something's got to give. Ben sums up the problem with the music industry very well:

The Music Industry...is not a free market at all. It's a back-scratching socialist economy. The radio stations play only select groups of songs, bought from labels, both of which simultaneously owned by companies that also happen to own concert venues and ticketselling groups. People don't hear the musical equivalent of indie films or low-budget flicks, because they can't. They can't drive into the city to see a different show. And music has a much more difficult time of gaining word-of-mouth momentum outside of local limits. It's called the socialist economy.

In the comments on Ben's post, Mark Byron described the music industry as an oligopoly, which is exactly what it is. When this current system finally does die, hopefully it will be replaced with a free market system and true competition. Then I'll be able to listen to music radio again.