It seems all too clear now, especially with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, that a great deal can be learned from the multitude of mistakes made by the big record labels' insatiable greed. The trouble is it may just be a little too late. The fat cats have now earned another dubious distinction, or label if you will, of achieving the biggest "screw-up of all time" in a top 10 list put out by Blender Magazine.
The record companies' failure to realize the lucrative potential by not devising a viable business model for file-sharing sites, and their short-sighted inability to benefit from Napaster's rampant success, may just be the ultimate, all time industry snafu. By 2001 Napster had attracted many millions of viewers and had a lock on the music file-sharing market. The lengthy legal action merely dispersed downloader's across the web and prompted users to frequent Napster wannabee's iMesh, Kazaa, Limewire, and Morpheus in droves. You could even say it was the catalyst that helped Apple's iTunes become the industry behemoth it is today. The lost revenues from advertising today are mind-boggling.
Other contenders on the Music Industry's Hall of Lame worth a notable mention include:
The amazing decision by Dick Rowe at DECCA not to sign the Beatles (oops), closely followed by Motown Record founder Berry Gordy's selling the label in 1988 for $60 million, only to watch it be resold a year later for a tidy $500 million. D'oh!
Blender Magazine's top 10 Music Biz 'Screw-ups':
1. Major labels squash Napster
2. Decca Records A&R turns down the Beatles
3. Motown sells for a pittance
4. Indie promoters take the major labels to the cleaners
5. The RIAA sues a struggling single mom for digital piracy
6. Casablanca Records goes bankrupt despite huge sales
7. Music publisher "gives away" Bob Dylan
8. Warner sells label Interscope to competitors Universal
9. “Digital-rights management” backfires
10. Columbia Records loses Alicia Keys and drops 50 Cent