It is a different world in the music industry now – the record companies, old-style CD retailers and everyone else who has ever made a cent in the music business had better be braced for more change.

There will be no more bundling of 10 bad songs with a couple of good singles to squeeze $15 out of consumers for a CD. Wal-Mart and Circuit City are not going to be able to depend on CD sales driving foot traffic in their stores. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps most crucially, Apple is set to become a huge force in the music business.