There was an interesting interview with Tom Petty in today's USA Today. I thought that I'd share a few quotes, which could easily have come out of a Mudcat thread. The comments are in regard to his new album attacking the music industry:

"I left nobody out," Petty says "I pick on the artist, the audience, everyone." "And not just in the music industry. It could be any business. The problem is greed, pure and simple. Never mind a healthy profit; the idea is "We want all the money we can get. We want every damn dime out there, and our computers can show us where every dime is." The Mom and Pop store had to care about its customers and its products to survive. These giant corporations don't care about anything but profit."

"Consumers have been anethestized," he says. "Standards go down, we settle for less. A CD is not expected to have more than one or two good songs. And I find it amazing that audiences accept lip-syncing at live shows."

"TV's down right dangerous," he says. "It endangers every one of us. There's an industry that makes the music business look like Boy Scouts. You would have thought you'd see s drastic change in attitude and maybe some moral responsibility in the wake of 9/11. I've seen no change other than an attempt to cash in on the flag and patriotism."

Strong words, but certainly true. For 30 years I was Director of a large museum with a farm, nature trails, art exhibits, an observatory exhibits and classes on early New England and American life, and not least a folk concert series and festivals. My stated opinion about the museum was "The Museum is people." And the staff and I ran it that way. We always put people first, and the Museum thrived. About five years ago, the Board became very top-heavy with corporate executives, and their bottom line was not people, or education or enjoyment. It's not that they didn't recognize the importance of those things. But, they seemed to see them as a side-effect of increasing attendance and income, not the purpose of the organization. The irony is that it's good BUSINESS SENSE to treat people with respect and consideration. That's soemthing that seems to have been lost in the corporate world. They see spread sheets, not people. In the long run, people who are driven by greed, who care nothing for their customers are brought down by their own greed. I just wish that it didn't take so long...

Mild-mannered Jerry