Maybe the music industry should look forward rather than spending its time and energy making lawyers rich by suing consumers. According to In-Stat, the online music market will soar to $10.7-billion in 2010 from $1.5-billion in 2005. "Consumers are opting for legal ways to purchase music, and more legitimate music sites are available," said In-Stat analyst Stephanie Guza. While Guza's quote is far from earth-shattering, it does put the spotlight on a basic issue the music industry has failed to grasp since Napster emerged on the scene in 1998: if you build it (online music stores offering great selection at reasonable prices), they (consumers) will come. It's puzzling why it has taken the music
industry so long to get its head around this reality. If you think about it, if Steve Jobs hadn't decided to create iTunes and used his influence to drag the music labels along for the ride, the RIAA might still be setting the agenda. It's also telling that while the music industry agonizes about the Web's emergence as a distribution tool, the television and movie industires are being far more pro-active in embracing change. A good example is how BitTorrent is being seen as a potential ally rather than the enemy.