Although piracy is undeniably bad for the music industry, there are plenty of ways around it. The sue-em-all solution hasn’t worked, so what else can record companies do to slow the problem down? In this instalment, I’ll share some of my ideas on how the industry can be creative in tackling the pirates. Hint: It’s all about carrots.

1. Music must be sharable – word of mouth is more important than ever
2. Revenue must come from multiple sources – if one bit of the industry becomes obsolete, it shouldn’t sink the whole ship
3. New technologies are to be welcomed and understood, not feared and litigated against
4. A&R can be crowdsourced, but remember the long tail
5. “Added value” is key – give people a reason not to pirate things
6. Your artists are your most important spokespeople