The internet is the great leveler (Gaming)

by Durandal, Wednesday, June 01, 2016, 13:03 (3097 days ago) @ Funkmon

In the past, the record company had a lock on manufacturing, distribution, and promotion. They paid the radio stations to hype songs, organized and controlled the top 40 lists and what made it to the record shops for sale. To make it big, bands needed a label's support and the Labels knew it and abused it.

With the internet and print on demand services, a band can distribute their own music, promote their own music, and interact with fans directly. This bypasses the majority of value from the Label, so it's pretty obvious that the label would disappear.

Video games are different in some ways, but we've already seen the collapse of most game stores. Gamestop exists now for used game sales and the few exclusive items they pay to insert into games.