Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson talked to Publishers Weekly about using free as a way of marketing products like newspapers, books, and music. At one point, he rips into the record companies and talks about what the "industry" really represents.
CA: They made a lot of mistakes: charging too much, forcing people to buy albums whether they wanted to or not, screwing artists. And once the music got out, they made a mistake by fighting it rather than embracing it.
But all this boils down to a fundamental definitional problem: when we talk about the music industry we're talking about the labels, and that is such a mistake. The music industry is bands, consumers, concerts, licensing, merchandise, endorsements, recordings—it's all these things. The music industry is also Apple—the device makers. I think I'm right in saying this: every part of the music industry, with the exception of selling of recorded music on silver discs, is up—tours, licenses, iPods, merchandise, the amount of music being made, ringtones, downloads. So when we say the music industry is in crisis, what are we really talking about? We're talking about the legacy model of selling discs. I don't want to seem craven or uncaring, but I don't really care that much about the survival of labels selling CDs. I care about all the other things—about artists, music, the relationship between the artist and the audience, the devices and the way we can enjoy music. And that seems vibrant and healthy and heading in right direction.
Read the rest of the article here.