The music industry sees reality staring it in the face, but doesn't like the way it looks:

The discussions at a music conference here Tuesday started with an all-around bashing of Apple CEO Steve Jobs before moving to the plethora of issues plaguing the music industry.

Meanwhile, anyone who points out the obvious issue gets treated with an even more distorted view of reality. Here's the consensus view:

"We're running out of time," Ted Cohen, managing director of music consulting firm TAG Strategic, told the roughly 200 attendees. "We need to get money flowing from consumers and get them used to paying for music again."

And here's reality:

"The economics of the business are over for good and aren't ever going to be the way they were before," Scholl said. This is a position that some in the music industry are starting to warm up to.

The simple fact of the matter is, the box is open, and there's no shoving the bits back into it. What I really love is the industry's view of itself:

Gewecke also defended record labels against the criticism that the music industry has its head in the sand and just doesn't understand the Digital Age. He said that Sony BMG is working with technologists and retailers, and is constantly is looking for technological solutions to some of the industry's problems.

*Cough* - like rootkits? The business has changed. A decade ago, I pretty much had to buy an entire album when all I wanted was a single song. Now? Not so much. The industry dug this hole for itself, by promoting no talent acts and trying to force entire albums of chaff down our throats. They shouldn't be surprised when there's pushback on that, now that it's possible to pushback.

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