MP3Newswire is running a story about the “2002 MP3 Losers” and “2002 MP3 Winners.” That the RIAA was considered the biggest loser should come as no surprise (and gets a big thumbs-up from me). However, it confounds me that the music industry just refuses to accept the new paradigms that technology and the Internet have created. Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA, is quoted by the BBC as saying “that music [will] always be available for free somewhere on the net despite costly court battles to shut down illegal music sites…It has got to be accepted that file sharing will always be there just as shoplifting is accepted as wastage in the retail sector.” This is the reality of the music industry these days, yet the RIAA chooses to combat this at every turn in a vain attempt to turn a profit at all costs rather than embrace it and nurture the technology. I think the most short-sighted thing of all is that if the music industry did it right, they could reap huge profits while winning over consumers in the process and guaranteeing themselves a role in the future of the industry. Why they don’t get this I just don’t know…
The rest of the lists are worth reading as well, although by my rant you’d think there wasn’t anything else there. 😉
Follow-up: Janis Ian (best known for her 1975 hit “At Seventeen”) has written an article entitled The Internet Debacle – An Alternative View (and an even better follow-up) with refeshing viewpoints on technology and the music industry from an artist’s perspective. It apparently generated a surprising amount of responses, including one from Hilary Rosen, CEO of the RIAA. Many insightful points and propositions are made in the articles, but most if not all are constantly being disputed and nitpicked by the “Internet-challenged” RIAA. What a waste…
