Wi-Max: The Future of the Internet. Good for Musicians?

[Deeprig9]

I heard on the radio today that a company is coming out with Wimax in the next 3 months in Baltimore, DC, and somewhere else around there. It basically like Wi-Fi but much higher bandwidth and encompasses a whole city, and more bandwidth per user than DSL or typical cable modems. Apparently, this technology has already been installed all over South Korea, and this isn't a pipe-dream but a reality that will throw the major carriers like ATT and the cable monopolies out on their asses. Basically, you'll have network connection everywhere in metro areas for your cell phone, laptop, any device really.

Radio source: The Clark Howard Show (very reputable consumer affairs show).


This kind of presense of connectivity anywhere is probably going to put the satellite radio people out of business too, maybe they'll hang on for rural business. Cars will be manufactured with internet radios. Cell phones will be voip instead of all the antennaes and towers all over the place. The whole game changes. Just like in South Korea.

What's this do for musicians? Well, obviously, the direction of technology means that CD's and radio are going to disappear faster than we thought it would. It means that getting distributed online isn't just a replacement for a brick and mortar store. It means that subscription services like Rhapsody and Napster have a second chance to redevelop their business models and build some relationships with telecom. It means that artists will need to place a greater marketing push toward the internet radio market. Some of these companies may exist now as traditional radio stations who will get into the internet market when there are no more cars driving around with AM/FM dials.

The biggest issue for bands is the competition with the right holders. People generally want to hear songs they know and can hum along to. How can your band compete with Led Zeppelin? Frankly, you can't. There will be 1,000,000 + stations available, and you can even have your own station that will play your music 24/7. But that's not going to help you.

I have some ideas, but I'll pause momentarily and allow for comments and thoughts on this before I go further.

[sabriel9v]

Looks like the ringtone industry will be blowing up even more.

[rennyn]

Hiya, new here and just thought I'd chime in :)

Wimax will definitely change things, for sure. The question is, however, how popular will it get? As it is pretty much everyone already has access to broadband in their homes. This will saturate areas, but it still won't be free.

But as it does become more viable and more bandwidth becomes available... Yeah, it might be harder for the new guy to compete. But then again, there might be a lot of stations that only play 'new' music. There's a lot of people who would listen to that stuff too. Once they learn to like your stuff, and it gets more popular, it could also get you more exposure than ever.

*shrug* Just a thought. There's always two sides :)

[Deeprig9]

On the telco side, sure it will cost money, but people will have more than just the Monopoly phone company (constantly cutting out) or the monopoly cable company (deliberately cutting off service during peak times to avoid bandwidth charges from the monopoly carriers they lease from) as a choice. And right now, people only have internet access at work (can't usually goof off too much) and at home, and occassionally at wifi hotspots through someone else's router in the broom closet, sharing 3.1 mbps with 20 other people. WiMax will be higher bandwidth than even your home cable modem. And it will be everywhere, so you'll be online in your car, walking around with your cell phone, I bet the next Iphone ditches ATT for their wireless and people can link up however they want, which will be WiMax. Right now we have the impression that the internet is everywhere, but it isn't. But it's about to be.