Don't Blame Piracy For Flat Music Sales

A British study rightly -- I think -- lays the blame for slowing music sales on DVDs (lots of bells and whistles and a great improvement over VHS) and video games and the like. Music sales are flat, but don't look at piracy: they point out that online piracy (like peer-to-peer services) have dropped dramatically in the last three years. Why? Because fans got a conscience? No, because singles and music downloads in general (which record companies ignored, dumped or fought bitterly) are all now available legally and easily. Movie studios should remember this when they dump idiotic, limited movie downloads for high prices onto consumers. And record labels should look at next-generation audio as a chance to provide more value for LESS money, not a reason to raise prices. And bookstores should look at why their sales are stagnating when they keep charging more and more for paperbacks. But will any of them really learn? Nope.