Napster chairman predicts the death of CDs

In ten years time music CDs will be a thing of the past - so says Chris Gorog, chairman of the Roxio digital media company that bought and re-launched Napster in the US last year.

Speaking at the 'Creative Financing and Music' seminar held in Dublin today as part of Ireland's European Union Presidency, Gorog focused on the challenges and opportunities of the digital music revolution.

In a speech titled "The Internet and the Democratization of music", Gorog referred to the "deterioration of the physical distribution model" within what he described as a "chaotic music industry landscape". According to his US statistics, over 50 million people had illegally downloaded music by mid-2003, with CD sales down 26% and over 1, 200 music retailers closing business.

"Clearly ten years from now the pre-recorded CD will be as difficult to find as the vinyl record," said Gorog. "The physical distribution model lasted a hundred years and it served us all well, but it's time to say goodbye."

Later, speaking with hotpress.com, Gorog downplayed the commonly held idea that there would always be a market for CDs - if not for their tactility then for the matter sleeve notes and cover art.

"Today's 14 year old kid has no respect for the physical form," stated Gorog. "He burns CDs, he throws them on the floor, he rides a skateboard over them. He doesn't care. All he cares about is the content."

The new pay-per-download Napster service launched itself in the US last October, and now boasts an online catalogue that features over 600,000 tracks. Until now it hasn't been available for web users based outside the US, but Chris Gorog today announced that the UK-based Napster service will become available for European consumers when it launches this summer.

"It's going to very similar to the US version," Gorog told hotpress.com. "So we'll have à la carte downloads for singles and also for albums and you'll also be able to pay one price on a monthly basis for unlimited listening, but the difference will be it will be programmed by people in the UK."

Held at Dublin's Chief O'Neill's Hotel, the day-long seminar was opened by John O'Donoghue T.D. (Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism) and Nikolaus van der Pas (Director General Education and Culture for the European Commission), and was attended by arts ministers from the various EU member states as well as representatives from national and international music industry bodies, including Ossie Kilkenny, Emmanuel Legrand (Global editor, Billboard) and Phillip Cartin from Ireland's Supremo Music (Fair Verona, Berkeley).

Stay tuned to Hot Press for the full interview with Napster chairman Chris Gorog, in which he speaks about the opportunities for unsigned Irish artists and independent labels as well as his views on the illegal music download services that are still in operation.