Sony BMG CEO Still Smarting

Reuters: Sony BMG CEO Andy Lack is the eternal pessimist: at a time when everyone in the industry is hopeful for new digital technologies, he is worried: "I don't think the prognosis is all that attractive going forward in '05, '06 and '07," he said. Digital downloads, ring tones and a new dual disc format, all of which have excited consumers, investors and record companies to varying degrees, are merely helping to stop a five-year decline in music sales, not expanding the industry, he said. On which he is completely wrong, but I'll let that slide for now...
Reuters: At the same speech, Lack said it could be 2009 before digital music becomes a large and profitable business for the major music companies. "I'm not making any money on this," he said. "(Apple Computer CEO) Steve Jobs ... has got two revenue streams: one from our music and one from the sale of his iPods. I've got one revenue stream that a proctologist would have a hard time analyzing. It's not pretty."