Prologue: "The Maserati Imperative"

The problems the record industry is having aren't caused by peer-to-peer file sharing...or home CD burning...or Internet radio (quite the opposite!)...or inadequacies in copyright law.

In my opinion, the root cause of the record industry's problems is a belief on the part of senior management that they have the RIGHT to have their glory years -- that shining period of roughly 2000-01, when all the factors were lining up in their favor, and sales volume, profitability, and executive perks were all at their peak -- extended INFINTELY into the future, regardless of changes in technology, consumer tastes, or competition for the entertainment dollar.

In other words, the record executive who was driving a Maserati in 2000 believes he has a right to continue to do so forever.

(By the way, I realize that a more accurate car model would probably be something like a high-end Mercedes, but I don't know my Mercedes model numbers and, what's more, "The Maserati Imperative" makes a great book title, doesn't it? (See illustration.))


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701869.html