Two guys who opened a record store in 1993 (closed in 2005) offer these comments on the RIAA cartel:
DESPITE the major record labels’ best efforts to
kill it, the single, according to recent reports, is back. Sort of.
You’ll still have a hard time finding vinyl 45s or their
modern counterpart, CD singles, in record stores. For that matter,
you’ll have a tough time finding record stores.
Today’s single is an individual track downloaded online from
legal sites like iTunes or eMusic, or the multiple illegal sites
that cater to less scrupulous music lovers. The album, or
collection of songs — the de facto way to buy pop music for
the last 40 years — is suddenly looking old-fashioned. And
the record store itself is going the way of the
shoehorn.
The money quote:
The major labels wanted to kill the single. Instead
they killed the album. The association wanted to kill Napster.
Instead it killed the compact disc. And today it’s not just
record stores that are in trouble, but the labels themselves, now
belatedly embracing the Internet revolution without having quite
figured out how to make it pay.
And where do you buy singles (if you buy them at all)? iTunes,
eMusic, etc. I leave you with these words from Dick Dale: