How the Recording Industry Killed the CD business

Spinning Into Oblivion - New York Times

Two former owners of an independent CD shop in New York City have written an op-ed piece for the New York Times explaining how the choices made by the recording industry have doomed the CD business and put the bricks and mortar music store out of business.

What is interesting is that these two music loving businessmen do not think that this demise was inevitable. They assert that it is a result of the mistakes made by record industry executives faced with the growing competition of music sharing networks and downloading. In their attempts to shut down internet piracy completely these record company executives have destroyed their own business.

Here's what they conclude:

"The sad thing is that CDs and downloads could have coexisted peacefully and profitably. The current state of affairs is largely the result of shortsightedness and boneheadedness by the major record labels and the Recording Industry Association of America, who managed to achieve the opposite of everything they wanted in trying to keep the music business prospering. The association is like a gardener who tried to rid his lawn of weeds and wound up killing the trees instead."

Have they learned their lesson? Check out EMI's new deal with Apple to allow their content to be sold on Itunes without piracy protection. Is this too little to late?