Errors and Omissions

Accepting music industry propaganda at face value

From today's online Wall Street Journal article on EMI Music's bid for Warner Music:

Like other players in the global music industry, EMI's sales have been hit by rampant music piracy in recent years. In response, Chairman Eric Nicoli has been cutting costs.

This statement, blandly inserted into the middle of the article, asserts that music piracy is responsible for reduced revenues in the music industry. The industry itself believes so--see this statement on piracy from the Recording Industry Association of America (see especially their grim and very broad view of "online piracy." Based on this, we may all be pirates!).

But there's nowhere near consensus on this topic. Here's one dissenting opinion.

The uncritical acceptance of an explanation from someone who's clearly biased (an industry association? if they're not biased, they're not doing their jobs!) while not discussing alternate explanations for the revenue drop (weak product, reduction of artists' rosters through consolidation, etc.) is one way bias creeps into the "objective" media.

Wall Street Journal
Music Piracy
Bias
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posted by Unknown @ 5/03/2006 03:05:00 PM