The problem with the music labels is not that music is an industry in decline, but that they have a too-narrow view of what business they're in.

"Soon a lot of these companies won't define themselves as record companies," says Steve Greenberg, the former head of Columbia Records who now runs the independent record company S-Curve. "They'll define themselves as artist development companies. If you're involved in an entire career with an artist, then everyone's interests can be aligned."