Playing a New Tune: The Music Industry's D-I-Y Era examines the changing value chain in the music industry as it has migrated to the Internet, looks at the state of the most significant online alliances / initiatives, and charts the M&A and venture-fund activity have helped shape the industry over the past few years. Among the highlights: Illegal downloads could be costing the music industry $10 billion -- the very amount by which the global industry has declined since 1999; entrepreneurial artists have more opportunities than ever to make it without the backing of a label; transaction activity in the music industry has been robust from 2006-08, with over 150 deals valued at $11.2 billion; and, while the music industry is still searching for a business model as the Internet has cannibalized CD sales, the pace of innovation and sense the industry has come close to bottoming makes it seemingly safer for investment.