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With companies dedicated to providing free music downloads legally appearing on an almost daily basis, it is clear that something is changing in the music industry. That something is free music downloads, and it is threatening wholesale the traditional market models that senior executives, shareholders and chairmen know and love. It is understandable that the drive to a new area is making them uneasy.

The industry is currently experiencing a huge dark patch when it comes to sales and income. That income is being transferred to proactive and forward thinking companies like We7, Spiral Frog and even Sony who are wholeheartedly embracing the change as a Good Thing. Which it is. The evidence that it is a good thing can come no stronger than the explicit endorsement by the bands themselves: Radiohead, Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails are all popular groups that, at some point or other, have made substantial portions (or all) of their recordings available for fans as free music downloads.

The cold, hard truth for those companies and organizations that are resisting this change (and there are quite a few of them) is that free music downloads are here to stay. Deal with it whichever way is best, but you cannot afford to stick your head in the sand.