As for the music industry, like many industries, they are still digesting the changes the internet has introduced. There is more superb music available than ever before and it's easier to find then ever before. It's not the stuff selling in amazons top 100 though. The internet has made it possible for talented people to bypass the major label marketing machines. Go to bandcamp.com and see what people are doing all by themselves. Awesome stuff.
As for the high end manufacturers and retailers. They are in major up heaval due to the internet also. They do not know how to deal with it. The manufacturers and distributors want to support the remaining brick and mortar dealers but a huge segment of the market no longer buys from them anymore. So their are all these dealers that have almost no physical B&M business and deal mostly with internet orders. And they mark the products down 20 to 40%. But they have to hide that this occurs from the distributors. But the distributors actually know it's going on, they just can't publicly endorse it so they don't piss off the remaining legit B&M dealers. It's a mess. The internet buyers don't want to pay full retail and they should not have to since they get nothing for the markup from the dealer. So,we have all these clandestine back room deals between dealers and customers that nobody can talk about. And all the distributors will say "yeah, but not my product, we don't do that", but they do. You name a product and if it's sold in a normal B&M store, it can be had for at least 20% off and usually 35% off. Their are so many dealers doing this now that it's not even a challenge to find anymore. It's ridiculous. The only products that cannot be had at a major discount are the ones sold only via internet because those are all ready free from middle man markup.
But does this mean the end of high end audio? No it's just the end of the old model. Personally I don't care if every B&M dealer goes under tomorrow. It's inevitable anyway. I don't use B&M dealers. Can't afford the mark up. The new model will be internet direct sales with 30 day home trials. If you want to hear a piece before buying then you will attend audio shows. That's why we've seen audio shows grow, not shrink. It is the only good way for distributors and manufacturers to get public exposure for their gear. That's the future.
As for the high end manufacturers and retailers. They are in major up heaval due to the internet also. They do not know how to deal with it. The manufacturers and distributors want to support the remaining brick and mortar dealers but a huge segment of the market no longer buys from them anymore. So their are all these dealers that have almost no physical B&M business and deal mostly with internet orders. And they mark the products down 20 to 40%. But they have to hide that this occurs from the distributors. But the distributors actually know it's going on, they just can't publicly endorse it so they don't piss off the remaining legit B&M dealers. It's a mess. The internet buyers don't want to pay full retail and they should not have to since they get nothing for the markup from the dealer. So,we have all these clandestine back room deals between dealers and customers that nobody can talk about. And all the distributors will say "yeah, but not my product, we don't do that", but they do. You name a product and if it's sold in a normal B&M store, it can be had for at least 20% off and usually 35% off. Their are so many dealers doing this now that it's not even a challenge to find anymore. It's ridiculous. The only products that cannot be had at a major discount are the ones sold only via internet because those are all ready free from middle man markup.
But does this mean the end of high end audio? No it's just the end of the old model. Personally I don't care if every B&M dealer goes under tomorrow. It's inevitable anyway. I don't use B&M dealers. Can't afford the mark up. The new model will be internet direct sales with 30 day home trials. If you want to hear a piece before buying then you will attend audio shows. That's why we've seen audio shows grow, not shrink. It is the only good way for distributors and manufacturers to get public exposure for their gear. That's the future.