The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1254 Digital Sound Source
"So your visit today is purely as a friend?"

Simple, direct, and to the point.

But unlike Edgar and Lucas, Anson always had a smile in his eyes and mouth, and his frankness and straightforwardness did not offend anyone.

Matt was slightly stunned, then realized that now was not the time to continue practicing Tai Chi.

Last night was the Grammy Awards, and early this morning he went to William Morris Agency to intercept Edgar and visit Anson——

The key lies in one word: fast.

Now, Anson was right in front of him, and he shouldn't just stand there and sigh foolishly.

"No, it's not." Matt showed his experience and quickly switched states.

Anson raised his chin slightly, showing an understanding look, and made an invitation gesture, "Please sit down."

Matt sat down and didn't hide anything any more. "Last night's performance was wonderful. The whole show concept was amazing and completely different from other performances."

Anson, "Ha, that's the purpose, and now it seems that the effect has been achieved."

Matt, "Of course. For a layman like me, it is like opening the door to a whole new world. Although I can't say any professional terms, I just like it. Those melodies have been circling in my mind."

"I've always liked 'Wake Me Up' the most, but I didn't expect that the first song was the one that kept echoing in my head last night..."

Matt looked at Anson.

Anson, "'Another Light'."

Matt, "Ah, 'Another Light'." After chewing it carefully, he couldn't help but sigh, "So that's what it's called."

Anson, "It seems that you are also a person with a story."

Matt was puzzled.

Anson, "Ordinary people tend to be impressed by drums and rhythms, especially on a carnival stage like the Grammys; but those with stories often cannot forget the emotional impact moments that awaken their memories."

"So, either you are a person with a story, or..."

Without continuing, Anson cut off the conversation with a smile.

Matt immediately realized that Anson was obviously trying to trick him with some hidden meaning. The point was that he had no idea that he had fallen into a trap. He was the one who set the trap at the beginning of this conversation.

Sure enough, the person who can make Sony Columbia suffer a setback is not a simple person.

Matt smiled generously and followed Anson's words and jumped into the trap. "Yes, that's right. I'm curious when the band is going to release this single? What do you think about us releasing this single?"

There was no more beating around the bush, just tear it apart and the mystery was revealed in one go.

Where did this idea come from?
Edgar and Lucas exchanged glances, neither of them trying to hide their surprise, their thoughts quickly surging in a flash.

Anson had not expected such a turn of events. He raised his eyebrows slightly and chuckled, "So, Apple is preparing to officially enter the music distribution business and compete with Warner Records?"

The band disbanded on August 31st and parted ways with Warner Records, but the matter is still a secret and there is no need to reveal the truth immediately.

Matt waved his hand gently. "No, no, no, no, we don't have such ability and ambition for the time being, and this is not the business direction of our company."

"Cooperation. It should be cooperation."

"We are ready to cooperate with major record companies like Warner Music, or more precisely, with musicians like you."

Anson's mind moved, and he seemed to know what Matt was playing - digital sound source.

As a witness of the times who traveled back 20 years later, Anson is very familiar with digital music sources. Later, the market space for physical albums gradually disappeared, while digital music sources became popular and entered the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

However, now?
Digital audio sources are still a new force and are facing resistance from singers.

The reason is very simple. The current technology is imperfect and digital audio sources cannot be protected from piracy. Most of the digital audio sources circulating on the Internet are transcribed from CDs and distributed illegally, which seriously damages the singers' royalty income.

Not only do record companies hate it, but singers are also troubled by it.

This can be intuitively felt from the sales figures. In the 1990s, an album could easily sell five million, but now even three million is very difficult.

Of course, these figures mainly focus on the singers at the top of the pyramid. It is normal that the music market sales are stronger in some years and lower in other years. Since the millennium, singers led by Britney Spears, NS N'Sync and Backstreet Boys are still very popular, and their album sales easily exceed 10 million. How can we say that the music market is sluggish?
Global recording industry revenues.

According to statistics from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the global recording industry's revenue and profit was US$1999 billion in 2003. This figure has been in a downward spiral over the past four years. In , the global recording industry's revenue and profit had fallen to US$ billion.

In just four years, the decline exceeded 15%.

The piracy of digital audio sources is the main culprit.

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It's not just piracy. Digital audio has completely changed the way people listen to music. While sales of physical albums have declined, pirated digital audio cannot bring in effective revenue, making the global music industry continue to fall like it's stuck in quicksand.

On the surface, it seemed like a lively scene. In 2003, singers such as Cent, Beyoncé, and August st were still very popular.

In fact, the entire music industry can feel the continued harshness of the winter. Even the account numbers of musicians at the top of the pyramid are decreasing significantly, not to mention those unknown musicians who are struggling on the 18th line?

The 46th Grammy Awards, on August 31st, the band's second half opening performance created such an impact and such waves, which was also due to the entire historical background.

As Anson said, keep believing in music and keep believing in dreams. Even a small existence like Archie is still lighting up a small part of the world.

Let’s get back to the topic.

At this moment, Matt, who had nothing to do with him, came to visit, and Anson immediately had an association in his mind that this should be a historical turning point.

Sure enough, Matt confirmed Anson's guess -

iTunes.

As a music player, iTunes was officially launched in 2001. After a long history of twenty years, it was officially taken offline in 2021 and was replaced by emerging online music source applications.

However, at present, iTunes is an innovative force at the forefront of the times.

At present, there are quite a few companies around the world trying to protect the copyright of digital audio sources and explore new music listening modes in the Internet era. Various websites and music players have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and iTunes is one of them.

It was not until 2003, that is, last year, that iTunes officially started the digital audio source encryption business. The technology is mature, but not universal.

Simply put, digital music purchased on iTunes can only be played on Apple devices through iTunes.

Currently, it's mainly the iPod.

Although this can effectively protect the copyright of digital audio sources, its disadvantages are also obvious:
What if you don’t have an Apple device? Or if you have an Apple device but want to listen to it on another device in other occasions?
Such limitations have resulted in the promotion of iTunes still being in its early stages, which is not only slow but also has no solution in sight.

This problem was handed over to the newly appointed Matt to solve.

Today, Matt is here to find a "solution":
Anson Wood.

(End of this chapter)