7th
The article is talking about Rick Rubin as CEO of Columbia. His appointment was the board of directors’ idea of thinking outside the box. It’s kind of goofy. Seems like another example of irrationally trying to maintain the status quo and consolidate power at the expense of progress, even when it’s glaringly obvious that maintaining the status quo is just going to leave everyone broke. There can’t be a shortage out there of qualified young people with revolutionary ideas about the music industry. It seems like the perfect person for the job would be a young hacker with an MBA. Can it really be just a bunch of scared rich people fearing someone popping their slowly deflating balloon? Even a young hacker with an MBA would be held accountable to the shareholders. It just doesn’t make any sense, but this all might just mean that there’s something more insidious at work here. Maybe these guys aren’t just a bunch of idiots. Maybe they’re just waiting for the right time to cash out.