iTake-Over

A decade ago, the music recording companies argued that illegal downloading was destroying their industry. Arditi provides evidence that the major record labels are in a stronger position financially and politically now than prior to the digital revolution. Additionally, rather than being a passive victim of technology, the major firms have actively influenced the direction of change. . . The author predicts that the price of streaming services will increase in the future, and that music playlists will be based on consumer mood and activities, and furthermore that the negative impact of these changes on culture will be profound. Though this new edition was completed prior to the pandemic restrictions, which have dramatically impacted all segments of the economy, it remains relevant and is highly recommended reading for all those interested in the future of the music industry. Highly recommended. All readers.

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In the first edition of iTake-Over, Arditi mapped the myriad ways that the music industry, claiming to be the victim of piracy, sought legal protection against file-sharing and bent the digital transformation to its bottom line. Six years on—a virtual lifetime in the digital world—he has updated his compelling analysis, adding new players to the debates over copyright and -left, and assessing the impact of streaming and subscription services on both the production and consumption of music. The result is critical reading for anyone with an interest in how the music industry has adapted to the digital 'revolution'; restructured the ways in which we produce, find, and listen to music; and expanded its market dominance.Nancy Weiss Hanrahan, George Mason University -- Nancy Weiss Hanrahan, George Mason University
David Arditi has done musicians and listeners as well as scholars of culture industries a real service by updating iTake-Over. In the past five years, streaming has come to dominate our experiences and analyses of the business of music, yet Arditi’s cogent account of the “piracy panic narrative” remains an authoritative critique of the record industry’s initial response to digitization. And while the bogey of file-sharing has come and gone, in this second edition, Arditi adds a detailed consideration of the political-economic stakes of music consumption’s reorganization from acquisition to access in the streaming era. -- Michael Palm, University of North Carolina at Chapel