Steve Jobs didn't "manhandle" the major record labels. He found a way to get them to permit digital music sales which allowed them to make a reasonable profit while protecting their copyrights. Many people say he "saved" the music industry from the music pirates who were willy-nilly ripping songs and trading them on Napster for free. The music publishers were at a loss at what to do. Steve Jobs offered them a safe way to meet the honest public at a profit, although not as high a profit as they really wanted. In the long run, though, they agreed that it was the right choice. This article is from the viewpoint of one of them who REALLY REALLY wanted to sell fewer albums at a higher profit margin, not realizing how many more would have been pirated instead of bought had he gotten his way.
The music industry was going to be "killed" no matter which way it went. Digital recording was just as much a death knell for the old model as radio was for the big band era. Both were unsustainable because of a major change in technology. Steve Jobs' iTunes model is being replaced by streaming music model as people learn they can rent their music more economically with less personally effort.
“The music industry was going to be “killed” no matter which way it went. Digital recording was just as much a death knell for the old model as radio was for the big band era. Both were unsustainable because of a major change in technology.”
Interesting that you do not hold the same position for the book industry ...
Music goes digital - New Age, Apple good.
Books goes digital - bad for publishers, Amazon evil.