Record industry - doomed
Record industry - doomed - The music executives were dinosaurs; therefore, the article concludes, their inability to adapt seems to spell the end of the record industry (emphasis mine):
… many in the industry see the last seven years as a series of botched opportunities. And among the biggest, they say, was the labels’ failure to address online piracy at the beginning by making peace with the first file-sharing service, Napster. “They left billions and billions of dollars on the table by suing Napster — that was the moment that the labels killed themselves,” says Jeff Kwatinetz, CEO of management company the Firm. “The record business had an unbelievable opportunity there. They were all using the same service. It was as if everybody was listening to the same radio station. Then Napster shut down, and all those 30 or 40 million people went to other [file-sharing services].”
(thx, df)
Comments
Dan McKeown
I found this article to be a very intersting take on the record companies’ failings and future. It made me wonder where they will branch off into successfully and how they will do it. I cannot say that I am very upset at their plight.
Nils
I’m with Dan, screw the executives and rock on P2P filesharing. Bit Torrent (and its’ Azureus client) is the best thing to have ever happened to me.
Alexander Micek
I, too will follow the industry with interest in the years ahead. What will happen, I wonder?
Oh, and Nils — I used Azureus for years, but then I found a teeny tiny program that does everything Azureus does, but crashes less, starts quicker, and has a built-in search function. It’s called uTorrent. It’s like the Jimmy John’s of torrent programs: it starts so fast, you’ll freak.