Dear moderator (#44),

Guess you missed my point. My criticism is directed towards the manager of this band. Nothing against the band. Any big exec will always find reasons for a decline in sales, and will ALWAYS point to external forces. We see it in the Oil industry, car industry, etc. Truth of the matter, this (technology) has been going on for a good 10 years and still the big record company is shooting itself in the foot by embracing this technology, and by signing deals with Itunes, or Amazon. If they really cared about the artists, then they wouldn't be out there selling singles through Itunes (one example) and other music outlets. If Mr McGuinness has so much to blame, then maybe he should take a stand and do like RadioHead did. They have engaged their fan base - the fans are happy and RadioHead came up with sales of over $3 million on this experiment.With very little cost. What U2s' manager is doing is biting the hand that feeds it.

Having an executive blame hippies, Silicone Valley, Radiohead, Steve Jobs, technology, innovation and ISPs is not taking responsibility for his own actions. And the last thing the world needs is having the ISPs involved in filtering content for the benefit of big record labels, or any organization for that matter, including government. And this is what Mr McGuinness suggests as a solution to make up for lost revenues. And if, dear moderator, you think this is a great idea, then come forward with a valid argument rather than "Username (38), really don't give a damn. Do it on your own time."

I think his speech, will sadly have a negative impact on U2.

Dear moderator (#44),

Guess you missed my point. My criticism is directed towards the manager of this band. Nothing against the band. Any big exec will always find reasons for a decline in sales, and will ALWAYS point to external forces. We see it in the Oil industry, car industry, etc. Truth of the matter, this (technology) has been going on for a good 10 years and still the big record company is shooting itself in the foot by embracing this technology, and by signing deals with Itunes, or Amazon. If they really cared about the artists, then they wouldn't be out there selling singles through Itunes (one example) and other music outlets. If Mr McGuinness has so much to blame, then maybe he should take a stand and do like RadioHead did. They have engaged their fan base - the fans are happy and RadioHead came up with sales of over $3 million on this experiment.With very little cost. What U2s' manager is doing is biting the hand that feeds it.

Having an executive blame hippies, Silicone Valley, Radiohead, Steve Jobs, technology, innovation and ISPs is not taking responsibility for his own actions. And the last thing the world needs is having the ISPs involved in filtering content for the benefit of big record labels, or any organization for that matter, including government. And this is what Mr McGuinness suggests as a solution to make up for lost revenues. And if, dear moderator, you think this is a great idea, then come forward with a valid argument rather than "Username (38), really don't give a damn. Do it on your own time."

I think his speech, will sadly have a negative impact on U2.

I'm sure Mr.McGuinness was happy to see U2 as the Itunes poster band a few years back, and is also probably proud to see his breadmaker mingle with Mr Gates, an enabler of such technologies that are "killing" his business.

Sorry to hear things aren't going as planned Mr McGuinness. But you, as a manager, are responsible for your situation and seeing you blame everything under the sun for your problems only shows how desperate, and greedy you are. Blogger #33 hit it right on the nail. While all has been changing around you, you were looking the other way. Time to get to work and re-think your business model I guess?