It's called radio, and more recently, music videos. In both cases, record labels basically paid to promote album sales — either through payola, in the case of radio, or through seven-figure film budgets, in the case of music videos. The content itself was given away for free. Thankfully, digital tools make recording and mastering that much cheaper as well. The only change in thinking (and artist contracts) required is to see the recordings themselves as a loss leader for stuff you actually can sell, like tickets and T-shirts, fan club memberships and licensing rights.

The new MySpace Music, like industry-backed efforts with MusicNet, PressPlay and Bertelsmann's Napster, is doomed to failure because the labels persist in seeing recorded music as a profit center, not as a promotional platform for leveraging artists' brands. Of the four majors, only EMI hasn't signed on with that effort yet, and if former Googler Douglas Merrill has any sense, he'll tell the company not to bother. (Photo by AP/Peter Kramer)

Best of all: Qtrax CEO Alan Klepfisz claimed he wasn't trying to mislead anyone: "We feel we have been unfairly crucified because a competitor tried to damage us." Klepfisz didn't name names, but we're reminded of Pogo: "We have met the enemy, and they are us."

The "no snitching" meme in hip-hop and urban culture has been in the wild for months, of course. Scoble only caught wind of it from a "60 Minutes" piece, replayed yesterday, that originally aired in April. Scoble reminds us that "60 Minutes" is "an important TV news show in USA" without observing that the Anderson Cooper piece may be the esteemed program's worst recent example of sensational journalism.

The entire story keys on Cam'ron, a hip-hop artist looking to revive his career and street cred after the foolish career move of festooning himself, his car, and his videos in the decidedly unmasculine color pink. Despite the claims of "60 Minutes," Cam'ron did not influence young black men to wear pink. The exact opposite occurred: young black men stopped buying Cam'ron albums. While the issue of white men making fortunes by marketing the ills of black, urban culture as glamorous to young white Americans is a real one, "60 Minutes" destroyed their own street cred by hooking the piece on Cam'ron, a figure entirely lacking in street influence.

Opposition to "snitching" is a sentiment that is deep-rooted and longstanding in the urban community. One rapper exploiting that sentiment does not influence youth; instead, Cam'ron's just trying to boost his own cred by playing into a reality that already exists. It was a reality long before Cam'ron; before the O.J. Simpson murder trial; even before Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale formed the Black Panther party. Warner carrying a foolish pop rapper like Cam'ron is not evil — it's just stupid.

Moreover, Scoble failed to do his research. After the airing, Cam'ron's publicity stunt backfired, predictably, and he retracted his statements and issued an apology:

In 2005, I was a victim of a violent crime. I was shot multiple times without provocation by two armed men who attempted to carjack my vehicle. Although I was a crime victim, I didn't feel like I could cooperate with the police investigation. Where I come from, once word gets out that you've cooperated with the police that only makes you a bigger target of criminal violence. That is a dark reality in so many neighborhoods like mine across America. I'm not saying its right, but its reality. And it's not unfounded. here's a harsh reality around violence and criminal justice in our inner cities."

But my experience in no way justifies what I said. Looking back now, I can see how those comments could be viewed as offensive, especially to those who have suffered their own personal tragedies or to those who put their lives on the line to protect our citizens from crime. Please understand that I was expressing my own personal frustration at my own personal circumstances. I in no way was intending to be malicious or harmful. I apologize deeply for this error in judgment.