Business Week on the state of the music industry.

The music industry’s decline also coincides with the rise of new, compelling forms of entertainment, including DVDs, video games, and, of course, the Internet. Suddenly, the music industry has stiff competition for Americans’ entertainment dollar.

Why is it that enterprises with a monopoly (or close to that) whine like they had a divine right to your money when they don’t meet their growth objectives?

A realistic assessment of the music business’ troubles would help inform policymakers as they fashion proposals aimed at eliminating the illegal reproduction of copyrighted music. No one is arguing that piracy should be allowed. But it’s reasonable to expect that laws and rules designed to curb the practice be based on credible and truthful representations of the impact file-sharing is having on the music industry.

Nice stuff.

[via Hack the planet]