Here’s a newsflash: The record industry is in shambles, The Economist reports, and it’s likely to get worse for the major labels before it gets better. All fun-poking aside, the article does a good job of giving an overview of the current situation (diminishing CD sales, an apparent slowdown in digital downloads) and what’s on the horizon (360-degree deals, giving away music).

And the labels are getting experimental, according to the article. Universal struck a deal last month with Nokia to supply music for its new launch of “Comes with Music” phones. That’s right, buy a Nokia phone and download—to your phone or computer--all the free Universal music you want. Universal will make its money by taking a cut of the price of each phone.

“‘Comes with Music' is a recognition that music has to be given away for free, or close to free, on the Internet,”  Mark Mulligan, an analyst at JupiterResearch, told The Economist.

The article notes: “For the recorded-music industry this is a leap into the unknown. Universal and its fellow majors may never earn anything like as much from partnership with device-makers as they did from physical formats. Some among their number, indeed, may not survive.”