In defence of JBJ (Bon Jovi vs Apple continued)

When Jon Bon Jovi reportedly apportioned blame for the music industry's death to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Bob Lefsetz was just one high profile member in a mass of cool, net-savvy iFans to ridicule him. Not that "cool" people have ever needed a reason to bag Bon Jovi, but I'm sure they appreciated the ammunition nonetheless.

However, Moses Avalon, author of Confessions of a Record Producer has taken a different stance:

Now, what did Bon Jovi say that was so terrible? Well, he spoke the truth for one thing. iTunes has helped devalue the business model that made music an industry. It may not have started the fire, but it poured gasoline on it in gallons.

Let’s look at some iFacts:

1) iTunes has not, as some have suggested “saved the record business.” iTunes has made up less than 10% of sales over the years since launch.

2) Nor did Steve Jobs “invent” a way for artists to get paid from the internet, (I think Al Gore did that.)

3) Finally, I believe it was Lawrence Lessig or some fool like him who promised—“If you give people a legal way to buy music they won’t steel it.” Remember that one? Not true: P2P file sharing did not decrease since iTunes went on-line — it actually increased.

What iTunes did that sucks most for music is it destabilized the “album model.” Yeah, yeah, I know, many of you think that that is good for the consumer, but it’s really not in the long run. Not if you’re a true music fan.

Read the full blog post here. He is a bit condescending at times (not unlike our friend Lefsetz), and he trashed Larry Lessig, whom I happen to have a lot of respect for... but amidst the flood of "Jon Nob Jovi [sic] is inherently evil" posts, it's kind of nice to have a peak at the other side of the coin too. ;)