{Insert Obvious Here} The internet has changed the way music is produced, marketed, “sold”, and consumed forever.  When I say “sold”, I should really say “obtained” because purchasing music has become optional.  But if you feel guilty and don’t buy into your anti-establishment neighbor’s argument that downloading MP3s for free is cool because you’re just cutting out the corporations, you can go to a music service in the former USSR and pay .29 cents for a cut. (I keep getting credits for $.00001 dollars on my CDBaby account.)

{Insert Statistics Here} According to the Recording Industry Association of America, between 1999 and 2008, the segment market share for jazz recordings declined from 3% to 1.1% in an overall music market that shrank from $14.5 billion to $8.4 billion.  So difficult as it was before, making a living playing jazz music now is like trying to run a marathon with a tight-fitting plastic bag over your head.

{Way Too Negative Dude} Be that as it may, the digital age has brought tremendous benefits to the musician. Benefits such as inexpensive recording as well as the ability to pole vault over the heretofore deadly obstacle of music distribution to bring your sh*t directly to the public.  These benefits and opportunities will be the subject of later articles.

Will the advent of the inter-webs be the meteor that hits the music business, disrupts the food chain, and causes jazz musicians to become extinct, or will it be the opportunity that allows highly adaptive dinosaurs to find new ways of competing with their old predators?  Since avoiding extinction is closely tied to generating income, new ways of  “monetizing” ones music, brand, and time etc has emerged as the critical objective.

{Now Start the Crazy Sh*t}  To this end, the Jazz Dinosaur media property has hired a consultant to identify market niches that align well to the JD brand.  Our consultants advise that mundane and previously used band memorabilia such as bongs and t-shirts are to be avoided.  Old technology that has become extinct such as pagers and mainframes will synergize well with the brand.  Also, consumer items preferred by consumers who will themselves soon become extinct, such as toilet rails,

also represent areas of opportunity.  {That’s Enough.  Talk About Serious Opportunities Later}