The music industry has already gone so far downhill from only a decade or two ago so to consider much more than a bleak future for the music industry, is becoming absurd.
What is the music industry today? A lot of new artists are entering the mix with the philosophy of "making their money and going home." A great philosophy, I'd say, but not great for the music industry. We can look back and there were always one hit wonders, but now it's one album wonders. The artist will come, they will produce millions of albums, go on a world tour, and then they're done until they need more money. Pathetic!
The music industry is barely about the music anymore. Think about the music videos, the award shows, etc. etc. We have gossip programs that play daily to tell us about the latest celebrity news. We are more interested in their life than in their music. It's all about publicity. It's about selling the person more than their albums.
And then the downloading of music, which is not the fault of the music industry. Are iPods and other Mp3 players taking away from true fans? Downloading sites are great for finding new bands but it is terrible for supporting bands. Your favourite bands are not making money off of you downloading from a P2P (Peer to peer) downloading network. Sure, it's great to have the Internet and be able to listen to whatever you want but if you like a band you should consider buying their album. This is the only way that the music industry will be able to survive the future, especially with technology growing as rapidly as it is.
For those of you that want to save the future of the music industry, you need to support the music industry. Buy one CD per month, even if you're downloading. Break out the old CD walkman. Don't get caught up in the drama surrounding the artists. If you like them then support them. Share bands with your friends. And when you're searching for bands, I recommend searching "back and out". Bands from back in the 80s and bands from other places than in North America. Sometimes they aren't speaking English but that doesn't mean that it's bad music. Spanish is romantic, Russians have some amazing techno, Norway has amazing metal music, etc. etc.
If we all work together in the fight against the declining need for CDs and we start to support our bands and wear their t-shirts etc. then the future of the music industry might start to look up. Things won't be so bleak. But... if we do nothing then the future of the music industry is doomed forever.