When Warner pulled Estelle's single "American Boy" from iTunes several weeks ago in a futile attempt to increase sales of the entire album, it only accentuated the music industry's desperation to return to the glory days of dictating to the listening public how it should consume music. "American Boy" and the album Shine have since become available again on iTunes, but only after its removal from iTunes caused Estelle's single and album sales to plummet. This is one in a series of events Advertising Age chronicles in an article titled "How the Music Business Spent the Summer Killing Itself." In it the author writes about how regulating the access listeners have to music online is an act of self-sabotage for the music industry since ultimately it only pushes buyers further away from industry promoted new music and points-of-sale.

We all know how fussy the music industry is when it comes to digital downloads and streaming music available online. It stubbornly clings to the control over distribution and sales it once had, whining about the way things were before the internet ruined everything. It's hyper-litigious, eager to sue college students and internet upstarts for copyright infringement, but is so cumbersome and demanding that it cannot keep up with this crazy, stealthy and defiant interweb. Continually it proves to have zero concern for the artists whose music it monopolizes by restricting access to their songs and albums online even though sales steadily fall.

Recording artists and listeners alike continue to find ways to connect in spite of the music industry making it increasingly difficult to do so online. It's been attempting to kill itself for at least the last five years. Maybe it should try harder.