iPhone, I would. What would you do?

So the story goes Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. walked into the 3GSM World Congress February 14th and “pointed right at the pink elephant in the room: The iPhone”. Bronfman made it clear that Apple is the future if the music industry cannot step up to bat with new creative and wave making innovations. Apple is an all-powerful entity that the record companies must learn how to tango with- if not, big bummer.

Apple with its iPod and iTunes store has captured 70 % of the market in record sales and is gradually growing stronger. Since the iPod launched with the savvy cool looking white music accessory -- an enormous amount of pressure has amounted on the record labels shoulders. Digital downloads and Steve Jobs have forever changed the music industry. Why stop with the iPod? No, business is business and now Apple is in the mobile business.

Back to Bronfman “he warned [the industry]… that if it cannot improve mobile music services, it could lose the market to Apple”. He pointed out that there is a million music phones “on the global market, but only 8.8% of users of these handsets have ever downloaded a music track over the air.” This means big trouble for the labels – who rely a great deal on ringtones to make up for losses in record sales, and big success for Apple who is making consumer lives easier and musically accessible more every day. Bronfman says that “Apple has raised the bar in terms of what users expect”, and frankly he is correct. The industry must start to put their thinking caps – caps form outside the box—the coolaid kind- that will save their percentages and business revenue floating upstream. In words of the wise – “Toto I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore”. We are in a new digital world and need to walk another yellow brick road. Steve Jobs did and everyone seems to be following him out of Munchkins Land. If the Apple iPhone makes it easy and breezy and relatively cheap to add ringtones from personal music libraries, organize daily activities, phone numbers, aesthetically please, consumers will buy. Bronfman is right- get to it boys! (http://informationweek.com_warner_music.html