Today’s music model: meet the 1950s
Someone teleported through time from the early 1950s to 2009 would find a music business curiously similar to the landscape of 60 years ago. Few specialty record outlets. Department stores dominating the market. A singles-driven industry. Pop music dominating radio. TV musical talent shows all the rage.
That's from the 21 December issue of Variety. One difference, of course, is that the best-selling album of this decade — but not the 1950s — was by The Beatles.