What's been the industry's reaction to this democratization of the distribution process? A laughable demonstration of impotent power akin to an obstinate child kicking over anthills. No matter how many anthills you kick over, more just keep popping up. The only way you're going to kill those ants is to go after the Queen. Only in this case, the Queen is the consumer.

The record companies seem to be clueless on this crucial point and have instead gone after file trading services in a futile attempt to regain control over the distribution process. Guys, Napster and its clones are mere enablers. In your panic, you've utterly failed to understand the fundamental reasons for why people are doing what they're doing. They're not ripping and trading songs because they wish to nefariously deprive you of your profits and bring your entire industry crashing down to the ground. They're doing it because it rightly gives them control over how they receive and listen to their music and having tasted that freedom, they're not going to give it back to you.

I sometimes wonder if the record companies are intentionally trying to piss off their consumers. Let's consider two facts. One, most 13-25 year olds have grown up with computers and consider them essential to daily life. They do everything from mail to chatting to music listening on their computers. Two, the target demographic for record companies are 13-25 year olds. I know I can't be the only one to see the monumental blunder the record industry has made by pissing off its biggest source of income.

They've spread so much ill will by completely ignoring the needs and wants of their consumers by shutting down file-swapping services and copy-protecting CD's, that it completely boggles the mind. Have they panicked so much that they've lost sight of the fact that they're trying to sell music? They've spent so much time, money and energy into depriving their consumers of the very things the consumers have indicated
they want that you begin to wonder if the companies are concerned about making money or preserving their vice-like hold over every aspect of the music creation and distribution process. If they continue down that path, the vice-like grip will be due to rigor mortis instead of supreme confidence.

So there's what's wrong with the record industry. In my next installment, I'll try to give ideas about how to make things right.

-Paul Palubicki, purveyor of fine blogs such as Beers Across America and SSDB since 2001.