Andre Grey from DEMO has posted one of the most concise, coherent explanations of the current state of music commerce. I don't know that I agree with him about how swiftly this will happen (I think it will take a little longer), but I agree with these key points:

* Music is swinging back to a "singles" orientation. We finally have an efficient way to let people enjoy one-off songs, with equally efficient ways for artists to create them. * Europe will play a major role in global pop culture. Except this time, the money will flow back to European artists instead of to their American labels. * Things will get worse before they get better. The labels are gonna get into some street-fighting in the next few years to preserve market share. Don't be surprised to see $3.99 full-lengths at Best Buy (not the cutout bin) by the end of the decade.