Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age

The MarketWatch website has a story from this past Friday which quotes UK EMI Chairman and Chief Executive Alain Levy as telling an audience at the London Business School that “the CD is dead.” He says that some people will still buy normal, off-the-shelf CDs, but that in order to capture younger buyers and listeners, EMI is going to have to offer added incentives and additional material. This is the first time I’ve heard an executive bravely say that their product is “dead”; I don’t know who will be the first person to say this in publishing, but it will be interesting to see. And of course this also gets to the heart of what major media businesses need to understand, which is that they’re not in the CD, DVD, or book selling business, but rather they’re in the entertainment and storytelling business. The only ones who are in the CD, DVD and book selling business are places like Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

EMI Music CEO says the CD is “dead”