The (Un)Lamentable Death of the Recording Industry

There was a very good opinion piece in the New York Times on the sorry state of the music industry these days. It's written by a couple folks who had an independent music store and sadly had it fold because of the change in how music is bought and sold. Here's a choice quote:

The major labels wanted to kill the single. Instead they killed the album. The association wanted to kill Napster. Instead it killed the compact disc. And today it's not just record stores that are in trouble, but the labels themselves, now belatedly embracing the Internet revolution without having quite figured out how to make it pay.

Lord knows that I don't buy music they way I used to. I don't buy a lot of stuff from iTunes, either, although I might now that they are going to offer DRM-free songs at 256kbps. We do have a subscription to eMusic, which is pretty cool even if it doesn't have a lot of more well known stuff. Anyway, the article is well worth the read - check it out before it disappears behind the paywall.