Free Music, Free Music Downloads and Music Downloads are the three most requested search terms WRT "music". A lot has happened in the music industry in the last decade and the conventional business models have crashed. Here is a question for all you Mix2r-ites and other neo-artist types who care about the industry - what is the next revenue model?

Free Music from Everywhere? We all create, we all consume. Where will it lead. If you build up a big enough following, surely you can make money touring? So many established artists are touring in their 50's and 60's cause their royalty cheques dried up. They need cash. What can they do?

What if artists who are no longer under contractual obligations can work directly on projects with new artists and charge money for it? Would you pay money to have a recording with David Bowie singing or Bo Didley playing guitar? What would it be worth? Would the older artists do it to get revenue if they cannot protect themselves from the song being copied? Sure. Here is how such a system protects itself:

The recording of the established artist is specialized for the new artist and mixed in. It cannot be easily taken back out of the mix however if the established artist decided, they could post work that everyone can sample (this has been done).

Sure the recording industry might cry foul but where are they today. Thoughts?