EMI boss Eric Nicoli wrote to the Financial Times last week to dispute a letter published in the newspaper a few days earlier which claimed the music industry was now "too mature" and "no longer has much of interest to offer people".
In his response Nicoli quipped that the writer of the original letter "must be one of the few people on the planet who has not noticed that more music is being consumed by more people in more places than ever before," adding: "It is insulting to immensely talented artists to suggest they are of 'reduced cultural added value', and it is patently not true. Ask the fans of Norah Jones, Coldplay, Radiohead, Kylie et al."
Tackling another charge that the music industry was failing to adapt to the times, Nicoli argued that his industry was now making music available in all sorts of innovative formats. Their fight against certain usage of new technology was not a sign of the industry being "too mature", rather of an industry merely protecting its property: "The music industry is not "too mature"; it is a vibrant, highly creative, cutting-edge business whose "product" just happens to be one of the first that can be distributed online or over the airwaves. The issue is that technology has also made it easier for our music to be stolen. And that is where we need the help of government and the law."