Music Industry Problems: Maybe The Music Just Sucks

Well, it's good to see some of the more mainstream press picking up on this idea. CBS Marketwatch is suggesting to the music industry that maybe (just maybe) the music industry's problems have less to do with all this downloading activity, and more to do with the fact that, well, um, we hate to break it to you, but most of the music coming out these days really (no, really) sucks. The article describes "musical lulls" between great periods of music creation, where most musical acts are more about "McDonald's rock" - taking a successful manufactured act and copying it over and over again. The article also suggests that the world has fragmenting tastes. That is, not everyone likes the same music, and not everyone wants to be forced to listen to yet another boy band. This, of course, is the perfect situation for the internet, where the music industry could produce much more customized niche acts for all the varied audiences. However, they've grown so accustomed to producing for the lowest common denominator that now that this plan has backfired, they've turned around and started blaming (and suing) their own customers.