It’s 1959 all over again. Found on Metafilter, A Small New Future takes a historical tack on the failure of the recording industry’s MegaPop business plan.
> Previewability is probably the most important revolution in recent music. Despite what the RIAA would have you believe, the shifts the industry has witnessed haven?¢‚Ǩ?°?É‚Äû?ɬ¥t been a matter of quantity so much as they?¢‚Ǩ?°?É‚Äû?ɬ¥ve been a matter of quality. People are making their purchasing decisions less on the basis of hype and blind faith, and more on the basis of what they actually enjoy listening to.

> And that has really screwed up the trend-driven marketplace it took the major labels more than 40 years to perfect.

It’s even got an Eno quote: > Well, something is always possible, though it might not be exactly what you expected. I often notice, when I’m talking with people involved in the arts, that their concept of what they want to do is to aim for the biggest, most obvious target, and hit it smack in the bull’s eye. That’s success whatever the particular field is. Of course with everybody else aiming there as well that makes it very hard to hit. It’s made hard to do. It’s made expensive. As Jon Hassell always says, I prefer to shoot the arrow, then paint the target around it.

Which last is from a Keyboard magazine article from 1989 full of similar gems.