Music has long been a pillar of profit in the entertainment industry, and an indispensable part in many people's daily lives around the world. The emergence of digital music and Internet file sharing, spawned by rapid advancement in information and communication technologies (ICT), has had a huge impact on the industry. Music sales in the U.S., the largest national market in the world, were cut in half over the past decade. After a quick look back at the pre-digital music market, this thesis provides an overview of the music industry in the digital era. The thesis continues with an exploration of three motivating questions that look at social networking sites as a possible major outlet and platform for musical artists and labels. A case study of a new social networking music service is presented and, in conclusion, thoughts on a general strategy for the digital music industry are presented.
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