How the heck did I miss Frontline the other night? I knew the subject was gonna be the music business, and I still missed it! Fool! Oh, well, it’s available online. (Note to self: broadband is becoming a necessity; take advantage of special offer from Verizon.) Here’s a lovely quote from David Crosby, talking about the way the business is run nowadays:

But they’re making little cardboard cutouts. They hire a producer, they hire writers, and the people that they put out in these little boy bands. And in the current stuff now, they don’t even bother getting people to play. Don’t bother with that guitar player, bass player, drummer — nonsense. That’s all nonsense to them. Got to look cute, have a flat tummy, and be controllable. And then they put you in these little cardboard cutout bands.
The people in those bands can’t write, play, or sing. They make them sound good with pro-tools, because if they sing out of tune, they can just say, “Oh, punch a button. Put it in tune.” Which is very frustrating to people like me, who spent, you know, 30, 40 years learning how to sing in tune in the first place. It is partly their own, you know, greed and, and lack of taste, but it’s also partly a condition that’s endemic in the country.

He has lots more to say, of course; when did you ever know David Crosby to not have an opinion? There are opposing views presented, naturally, but…well, see for yourself.