President Hilary Rosen blamed Napster on the drop in the sales of singles, the format that used to fuel the music industry.
Some experts trace the drop in the sale of singles back to the record companies themselves.
Industry watchers say that record companies have cut production of an unprofitable product that no longer serves the needs of the industry. Singles, a mainstay of the industry in the 1950s and 60s, have fallen out of favor as a tool to inflate sales figures and influence radio programming, said Roy Lott, president of EMI Group s Capitol label. It s a combination of things. Softness in consumer spending. The hit titles were for such a narrow audience that it was a very thin year, and lastly, the Napster factor.