Record Labels Struggle to Stay Relevant

April 4, 2008 — -- With CD sales dismal and Internet music sites such as iTunes soaring in popularity, major record labels have been forced to rethink their traditional and once-profitable business plans as they scramble to hold on to a diminishing consumer base and straying A-list artists, all of whom are increasingly turning to new technology for their music fix.

Take Rapper Jay-Z, for example, who is soon to become the third major artist to leave a well-known record company, in his case Def Jam Records, in return for a multimillion dollar deal with concert promoter Live Nation, according to The New York Times.

And before him it was superstars Madonna and U2 who penned deals with Live Nation, which is trying to profit where music label staples have not: They reach fans' pocketbooks not by luring them into outdated record stores but by selling band merchandise, concert tickets and fan club memberships.

"The sweet spot that the record labels have inhabited for the last 50 years or so has dried up," said Aram Sinnreich, media professor at New York University. "Making records and distributing them has no business anymore."

Russ Crupnick, vice president and senior industry analyst of entertainment at NPD Group, which conducts market research on music industry sales, agreed and told ABCNEWS.com that the record companies are going to have to come up with a solution to their profit woes, and fast.

"[Record companies] have got to do more and more different things to make up for the loss CD revenue," Crupnick said. "A few years ago it was a really easy industry to understand -- you had radio and you sold CDs -- there was an order to the world."

"Now that order has broken down," he said.

With iTunes leading the pack over corporate giants Wal-Mart and Best Buy in music sales, according to NPD Group's research, record companies have already taken steps to correct the error of their ways -- broadening their scope and investing in projects that connect to online social networking sites such as MySpace.