Can online music "anarchy" be monetised?

31st March 2008

Users should be taxed by their internet service providers (ISPs) for unlimited access to online music, according to Warner Music Group (WMG).

A charge for the ability to download from a database of all available recorded music could be bundled into monthly payments to ISPs, the group asserts.

WMG has enlisted former Geffen digital chief Jim Griffin to develop a model for how such fees can be distributed to recording artists and copyright holders.

Speaking to Portfolio.com, Mr Griffin described the music industry as a "big tip jar" and noted that paying for tracks is now "purely voluntary".

He said: "We want to monetise the anarchy of the internet."

The publication claims that WMG's employment of Griffin is evidence of the industry's growing desperation in the face of dwindling CD sales.

With record labels including Elektra, Asylum, Roadrunner and Reprise, WMG in 2005 became the only stand-alone music group to be publicly traded in the US.