Yesterday I participated in a panel discussion here at IBMA about Internet Promotions: Myspace and beyond. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout. In past years the panels I’ve been a part of, whether as a speaker or a listener, were very sparsely attended. This year the turn out was great with nearly every seat full, people standing in the back and sitting along the walls. I noticed when we let out that the panel in the adjacent room was also well attended. I take it as a promising sign that people are taking advantage of such opportunities.

Our discussion was, I’m sure, a bit of information overload for those unfamiliar with the topics we were covering. We covered a wide range of topics from MySpace and other social networking sites to blogs, podcasts, rss feeds, news aggregators, and finally wound up discussing the landscape of the music business economy in 2006. The decline of CD sales seemed to be a concern that many of the artists present were dealing with. It’s understandable seeing that they derive their livelihood from such sales. What the panel said, and I’ll repeat here, is that we must realize we are in the music business, not the CD business. As that medium of delivery dies away we just have to find the new medium for making music available to the consumers.

It was a very thorough discussion of the topic with some great comments and input from those in attendance as well as the panel members. If you are interested in internet promotions and the future of digital music I would say this is something you should check out. IBMA did record the whole thing and will be making it available on CD at some point in the near future. I believe the price for the CDs is $15 and you’ll find them here when they become available.