Ladies and gentlemen: you are witnessing the death of Rock 'n' Roll.

That's the conclusion of Author and Singer-Songwriter Nathan Harden who writes that whilst

many people are familiar with the financial woes of the music industry. What isn't well understood, however, is how the economic misfortunes of the music business are transforming popular music itself,

The problem he sees is that record companies can no longer invest time and money in nurturing new talent

if a band's first album is not a hit, more often than not, that band is dropped from the label. No second chances. Most artists never turn a profit.

But more importantly whereas the digital revolution was supposed to empower musicians

hundreds of thousands of other musicians are competing for attention online. Winning new fans and staying connected to them requires tremendous marketing sophistication.

Interesting as people are claiming the I-PAD is the new I-pod will the publishing industry go the same way?

Downloads account for increase in music sales

Figures out today by the BPI show that although music sales continue to fall,there are signs that the digital market is finally starting to deliver.

2009 saw 16.1m digital albums sold in the UK representing 12.5 per cent of the albums market and saw the singles market recording its best year with 152.7m singles sold, up 32.7 per cent on 2008 and over 98 per cent were downloads.

The year started badly with the demise of Zaavi and Woolworths but a healthy stream of releases sustained UK album sales, with big sellers coming from Susan Boyle, Lady Gaga, Michael Buble, Kings of Leon, Black Eyed Peas, JLS, Robbie Williams and Paolo Nutini.

Geoff Taylor, BPI Chief Executive, said

As the way in which consumers find and purchase music continues to evolve, it is vital that music companies can continue to invest in new artists and support new digital services. Meaningful action to tackle online piracy is more critical than ever before. Without it, investment in new services and new music will be stifled.

Are the noughties the death of popular music?

One thing that this decade may well be defined by is that it marked the end of 50 years of growth in popular music.

I doubt whether this decade will be remembered in future years for having a musical sound and I would be very surprised if today's artists will be reforming for their ageing fans in 2030.

The noughties have seen the crushing of the economic model of recording,selling and distributing content for profit.Bands now have to rely for the most part on live performance and merchantising to get any real financial return on their talents.

Many will blame the internet for these trends but really it must be seen as a shift in society in much the same way that other parts of the media have been hit by the mutltitude of choice that we as consumers have and our short attention spans.

The end for Spotify

Many are reporting this morning that the internet streaming music service may be on its last legs.

This report in the Times suggests that

Senior executives said that Spotify could soon be “dead” if it continued to be available free and relied on advertising to fund the service.

In response to its founder's letter to the paper

Experts said that Mr Ek’s letter represented a plea to the music industry not to kill off the service, which is only a year old, with high royalty fees. Although the music industry believes it is well designed and useful in dissuading consumers from internet piracy, there is concern that the website cannot generate enough advertising revenue to pay for its music.