url URL date not supplied janis ian a brave and talented recording artist and budding and talented science fiction writer has done a terrific interview with the slashdot groupmind about her views on the music industry seriously diversity is something record companies can t afford anymore not the majors at any rate i d go to this article posted at linux journal which quotes a newsweet article july NUMBER NUMBER by steven levy saying so why are the record labels taking such a hard line my guess is that it s all about protecting their internet challenged business model their profit comes from blockbuster artists if the industry moved to a more varied ecology independent labels and artists would thrive to the detriment of the labels which would have trouble rustling up the rubes to root for the next britney the smoking gun comes from testimony of an riaa backed economist who told the government fee panel that a dramatic shakeout in webcasting is inevitable and desirable because it will bring about market consolidation that s really it in a nutshell market consolidation means the less artists they have to promote the less ultimate dollars they ll spend the smaller the playlist the greater the chance that audiences will buy something from that playlist alone because that s all you ll be able to find out there link NUMBER discuss NUMBER NUMBER URL NUMBER URL 