Quote;

"There's no one in the record industry that's a technologist," Morris explains. "That's a misconception writers make all the time, that the record industry missed this. They didn't. They just didn't know what to do. It's like if you were suddenly asked to operate on your dog to remove his kidney."

Oh dear Mr Morris, you really did not look very hard did you?

I love the play the devil's advocate:

At the UMG there were not too few, but to many experts, who thought they knew the right strategies for the digital future. Including Edgar Bronfman Jr. (Seagram) and after 2000 Jean-Marie Messier (Vivendi Universal). Does nobody remember Vizzavi?

The whole interview is here: www.wired.com/print/entertainment/music/...ine/15-12/mf_morris

I think it is a bit unfair.

Liquid Audio has it all sussed out and came up with killer solutions. My own baby NetBeat was a pioneer (we got slaughtered by McKinsey consultants rather than downloaders - but that's another story entirely). There really were people talking sense back then. Sure, it was difficult to tell what was going to happen (and critically, the time scale). But the answers were already being talked about then, from "subscription models" to paid-by-ads downloads and top-up cards.

All the initiatives were basically doomed as the majors refused to talk seriously and come on board. So although there certainly were scheisters and airware specialists out there, there were also industry joes that were knuckling down to business.

It's rather like a great tragedy...the tragic "hero" sees everything so clearly right before...oh well.

Last one out at the majors please turn the power off.

Howie Klein on his experiences with the "technology experts" at TW and AOL Time Warner:

www.huffingtonpost.com/howie-klein/how-t...rofitab_b_74203.html