Apple already control the profits and destiny of all the existing record labels by being the gatekeeper of something like ~80% of digital sales (i.e. ~80% of ~9

Apple already control the profits and destiny of all the existing record labels by being the gatekeeper of something like ~80% of digital sales (i.e. ~80% of ~99% of all sales, eventually) via iTunes. They have already managed, apparently without waking the slumbering record industry, to sneak in and take over control of distribution - the only profitable thing about being a record label in the first place. Not just one labels, or one markets distribution either, but all of it - all 'legal' digital music retail distribution, pretty much. I'm not sure that the traditional phrase 'record label' really contains meaning, from here on out, anyway. If I can record some music using my digital studio (shhh, it's just a pc, but don't tell anyone), sign up to iTunes Music Store as an artist and just start selling it, I would. So, not only have Apple pinched the whole music distribution business out from under the majors, they've also provided the opportunity for people to sidestep most of the middlemen altogether. Notably, Apple will also sell you the software & hardware for your digital studio too, if you like. So, the App store for Recording Artists, not Software Developers, with the artists getting a much bigger (like 20x bigger, or more) cut than they do now. Rating and reviews doing your marketing. Sounds like an idea who's time has finally come. The Monopoly is dead, long live the Monopoly. Ties in nicely with this which I was reading just the other day: http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2009/08/23/On-Music http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2009/08/23/On-Music