The Music Industry Mourns Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Members of the music business are weighing in on the loss of a giant, with the passing of STEVE JOBS on WEDNESDAY (NET NEWS 10/5). Many of the products APPLE released during his tenure as CEO directly impacted the music business.

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES notes, "Less than a decade ago, a recording keyed to one song -- the single -- was considered dead in the water. Even though it had long been a critical part of the way music fans bought and enjoyed music, the single had become a marginal facet of the music business. Meanwhile, the record industry was waging a life-or-death battle over music piracy because the Internet had blasted open floodgates that allowed people to share their favorite music with one another across the globe, without bothering to pay for it. And then along came STEVE JOBS, armed with APPLE's iTUNES and iPOD."

The impact of iTunes on the sales of single songs can hardly be overstated. During iTunes' first year in operation in 2003, 30 million digital downloads of songs were sold. Within two years that figure had mushroomed to 1.2 billion song downloads.

"What made STEVE JOBS truly great," U2 singer BONO said THURSDAY in a statement, "is that he was only interested in doing truly great things. He was bored by an easy ride or easy profit. In a world littered with dull objects, he brought the beauty of clean lines and clear thought. [He was] one of a very small group of anarchic Americans who through technology literally invented the 21st century. We will all miss the hardware-software ELVIS."

GRAMMY MUSEUM Exec. Dir. ROBERT SANTELLI said, "What he's done with the iPOD and the iPAD rank on the same level of importance and significance as the invention of the WALKMAN, the cassette, even the LP and the phonograph in general ... We counted on him as a world to show us how we listen to music and how we consume it. Now that he's gone, there's a vacuum in that area and it will be interesting to see how, or if, it can be filled."

THE TIMES notes, "the impact of iTUNES on the sales of single songs can hardly be overstated. During iTUNES' first year in operation in 2003, 30 million digital downloads of songs were sold. Within two years that figure had mushroomed to 1.2 billion song downloads."

"He was a true visionary who forever transformed how fans access and enjoy music," RIAA Chairman/CEO CARY SHERMAN said in a statement. "With the introduction of the iTUNES software and other platforms, STEVE and APPLE made it once again easy and accepted to pay for music."

"To be a genius in any field is rare enough; to be a genius in three is impossible," WARNER MUSIC GROUP Chairman EDGAR BRONFMAN JR. said in a statement. "STEVE did the impossible. His incomparable brilliance in technology, design and business transformed not only the music industry, but many others, and in the process, changed our world."

"STEVE had an incredible ability to harness the power of innovation to satisfy and stimulate consumer demand in a way that few have ever been able to achieve," noted EMI GROUP CEO ROGER FAXON.

"STEVE was a magnetic personality and a fierce intellectual debater of all things music, ranging from piracy to specific discussions about lyrics," UMG Chairman/CEO LUCIAN GRAINGE said in a statement.

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