Mumbai: Live concerts and music on the internet will be key to the music business of the future, feels Ralph Christoph, an electronics music expert from Germany who is scouting for talent in India.

Christoph, founder of the German music festival called "Cologne on Pop" or c/o pop, popularly known as the 'Woodstock of Europe', said the music industry at present "is going through one of the most dramatic paradigm shifts in its history".

"Within a few years, the physical business will disappear and what will remain is the internet and of course live concerts," Christoph told IANS in an interview. He is touring India on behalf of Goethe-Institut, delivering lectures on electronic music production and scouting for musical talent.

Elaborating on the changing face of the music arena, Christoph cited the example of pop diva Mariah Carey's recent album, which had an initial sale of "just 450,000". Earlier it would have easily touched five million.

"It is precisely for this reason that pop star Madonna focuses and concentrates more on live concerts than on album sales. After all the ticket prices are going up. It is a worldwide phenomenon."

It is to meet these crucial changes in the music world that the festival was launched and "c/o pop now plays a pivotal role in bringing together creative artists and online music traders on one platform, where big music industry giants do not have a say," he said.