Salon has published a very sensible, impassioned piece by a record exec (John Snyder, president of Artist House Records) arguing that labels must embrace file-sharing to succeed. There's nothing here that hasn't been said before (labels are chicken-littling, failing to release the variety their audience demands, file-sharing is free promotion, etc), but it's remarkable to hear it coming from a recording-industry executive.
Music companies are more egregious in their abuse of consumers than the movie companies. Consumers don't hate movie companies, but they do hate record companies. The question is, why is this happening and what is going to be done about it? Digital copy protection (known as digital rights management or DRM) will only add fuel to this fire, so expect a very big blaze in 2003. In the end, it will be the music companies that run the risk of being consumed by it. Music companies have the opportunity to adjust to the new realities of digital distribution but instead they cling to their existing business models where they control as much of the distribution channel as possible. It is doubtful that this behavior will be rewarded with increased sales.
