The former Talking Head, David Byrne, interviewed Thom Yorke of Radiohead for Wired about Radiohead’s online-album experiment. Interestingly, though, a companion piece by Mr. Byrne, about how artists should navigate the troubled and chaotic music industry [David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars], is getting the most attention (wired.com).

The economics of falling costs are transforming the music industry, just as they are transforming the Web business. “Now an album can be made on the same laptop you use to check e-mail,” Mr. Byrne wrote. And thanks to digitized music, distribution “is pretty much free.”

The musician and composer Brian Eno told Mr. Byrne that the big record companies were “entirely on the defensive now.” …

By Mr. Byrne’s count, there are six major options for musicians, ranging from letting labels and industry pros take care of their business functions to going off the grid “where the artist does nearly everything.” The “totally D.I.Y. model is certainly not for everyone,” he wrote, “but that’s the point. Now there’s choice.”

For more education on careers in the music industry, check out: http://www.music-career-guide.com

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