No Rock And Roll Fun

NOT THEIR MASTERS' VOICE: More trouble for the music industry in its bid to present itself as being at the mercy of kids, komputers and kazaa - HMV has outstripped even analysts' best hopes to post a seventy percent surge in interim profits. And, crucially, the stores US operation has seen a five percent increase in sales. The RIAA will tell you that'll be down to their legal campaign, of course, but since a lot of HMV's Christmas-period sales are gifts, it's hard to imagine Ma and Pa Kettle saying "You know we downloaded mp3s for all the kids last Christmas? Well, we don't want to end up in court so we better buy the proper disc this year." Yes, the sale of music is thriving. If the major record companies aren't able to share in that, maybe it's time they stopped blaming their customers and gave some thought to their own business practices?