I'm coming out with this straight up. I'm an anti-capitalist. I think capitalism has done more bad for society than it has done good, turning it into a me-first society rather than a for-the-collective-good society. Of all the corporations that I hate the one I loath the most is the Music Industry, so when Radiohead - one of the biggest names in music today - comes out and says "we're going it alone so give us what you think we're worth" and this inspires Nine Inch Nails to do the same - especially after they just told all their Aussie fans to pirate their latest album due to the inflated prices Australia has to pay for it as opposed to say Shakira - then all I could do was sit there and think "finally, people are starting to listen to me".

Okay, so they may not have been listening to me per se but I've been preaching this thing for years. Why do artists think they need the Music Industry when all the tools are there for them to do it? Well it seems they're cottoning on to this.

There's potential for even more Macs to be sold with this shift. Think about it, who can provide ALL the tools for musicians - including tools for making music videos - at a reasonable cost? APPLE. Pure and simple.

Check this out (based on the most expensive options):

MacBook Pro: $7891(NZ)

• 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo
• 4Gb RAM
• 250Gb HDD
• SuperDrive
• 17" High Resolution Glossy Widescreen
• 23" Cinema HD Display 
  

Final Cut Studio:  $1999(NZ)

Logic Studio: $799(NZ)

Total: $10689

Now this is all high end stuff. I chose this to highlight something about the cost of Macs compared to PCs when it comes to this sort of thing. You see, to get the equivalent of Final Cut Studio alone you have to buy Avid which is $4995, twice the price of FCS2 AND LS. I was going to price up an equivalent Dell but I couldn't workout where to go to build one up.

So at the top end the Mac is the clear winner. At the bottom end the Mac is still the winner. With Digital audio in and out, iLife, and an instrument you can do more than any PC could ever dream of for the price.

So with easy access to hardware and software on the Mac platform to allow them to go it alone what benefits does it have for those involved?

Well for the Music Industry none but noone cares about them. They've been shafting us by pumping out bollocky music at inflated prices for so long. Then they have the nerve to sue us because they aren't making money from music that noone cares about anyway. They've done themselves no favours at all. For the musicians all the profits go to them as opposed to the pitance they get currently. They have full control over the sound of the music as well. As for the consumer we get to listen to interesting music, know that we are supporting the bands, and get to listen to the music that we WANT to hear not forced on to us.

With the likes of YouTube, MySpace, and other social networks bands can promote themselves without need for paying people to market their music. This of course leads to word of mouth advertising and before you know it you've got another Arctic Monkeys on your hands.

Radiohead's pay-what-you-feel structure seems to be working. According to a recent news release the average price is between 4 and 8 pounds so they are making a good amount of money. It works out roughly the same as an album on iTunes only the money goes directly to the band not to the music industry.

Speaking of iTunes, it's in a unique position to become the largest distributor of independant music if it wants to. There's no reason why it couldn't and considering its position in the music world it has huge potential. I'd like to see this and I think at heart Apple wants to see this as well. It's proved that DRM free music is viable and profit making, it's released them at the same price as regular DRM music, and it's proved that people want music their way not being dictated to.

Could 2007 spell the start of the end of the Music Industry? Man I hope so.