Salon’s Eric Boehlert continue’s to prove himself to be one of the best mainstream journalists covering the media business in the US. His latest article takes a multifaceted look at the declining music industry, identifying several indicators of the decline–lower CDs sales and radio industry losses–and digging for causes–mostly record industry recalcitrance. He also writes a shorter companion piece on the demise of the single, despite apparent demand for them by both consumers and artists themselves. The industry killing the single because it prefers to sell $19 full CDs rather than $3 singles is just one example of its stubbornness as it forces its will onto the people who produce and consume their wares, even if that’s really not such a hot business idea. If you can’t buy that one song you heard on the radio and you don’t care about the other 12 songs on the CD, then where do you turn? You download it.
I can’t help it — I take a perverse pleasure in seeing the recording industry and the commercial radio industry screw themselves royally. Unfortunately the artist and employees of these countries take it the hardest, when it really should be management getting their salaries and compensation packages raided to pay the salaries of those who would be laid off as punishment for their shitty, myopically self-serving decisions.
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