Alex Harries's diary

Today's "other rant" is about the music industry (again, probably) - I know naff-all about business economics, but I do know what hypocrisy smells like when I see it...

TAFKAP is giving away his new album free to readers of a certain newspaper. Mr. Quirk of the Entertainment Retailers Association says, "It is an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career."

How about the insultingly high prices of CD albums in high street stores, Mr. Quirk? Good work TAFKAP; I'm sure you're making your millions off this "give-away" anyway, but losing the big stores from the high street (Fopp: gone, HMV: going?) might not be the end of the world for the music industry, or for DJs looking for the latest vinyl, either; shops like Plastic Fantastic will still be around as the nightclub and DJ industries keep vinyl alive long past its sell-by date (a good thing, I think?), and legally downloaded tunes become more and more widespread as technology makes it easier and easier to get good-quality, reasonably-priced music online.

It'll be interesting to see how this one pans out.