You know the music industry is really aching to develop new revenue streams when EMI's Eric Nicoli gently talks down at mobile operators he feels are stunting the market's growth. Said Nicoli at the CTIA Wireless trade show in Orlando,

"We will not reach our goals if we carry on as we have been doing. Not to diminish what we have achieved so far, but there are important challenges to address if we want to take this business to the next level. And that means we must put the customer at the forefront."

By "we" he means "we can be only as successful as hardware manufacturers and mobile operators allow us to be," which is partially true. And...

"Apple makes stuff that people love to own. They love the simplicity and user-friendliness of the iPod and iTunes. Apple doesn't employ any sorcery or dark magic to achieve this. They listen to what consumers want. And that shouldn't be Apple's unique privilege."

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"He suggests a three-part test for every decision: value for money, good product offering, ease of use. Nicoli said he feared 'many of us' would fail the test if applied to what is being offered now: 'I'm merely asserting that we all have more room for improvement than we can comfortably admit in public.'"