"The Biz is run by business-oriented managerial types who would rather impose product on maleable consumers than allow unpredictable artistic cosiderations put their invested millions at risk."
That applies to everything at the minute really, especailly here in the uk. This is getting worse now the financail heavy weights are merging, i'm being serious, this is really unhealthy for buisness to have such massive companies, who can afford mass advertising, and distrubution, and because of these factors musicains flock to them. All this means they're either crushing little independant record lables or buying them up.

"No band gets a recording contract (and big-time promotion and distribution) with a major label unless someone at the executive level is convinced there's profit to be made."

That is true, but there are alot of musicians managing to earn a living with out that big time recording contract.
THere's a fair amount of money to be made just by laying live, and occasionaly releasing stuff on independant record labels. in the Uk, really poeple have split, you've got those who like the charty stuff (there are plenty of these poeple...alot of them are kids, which is worrying cos that suggests they're being taken advantage of, cos some of these groups get slots on kids tv), and the other poeple, who like anything that really just tickles their fancies. There a lot of specialist shops around now, and i do feel distribution of some of the more underground stuff is getting better.

I dont think that music as a whole is becoming less geniune. Admitidly the chart stuff is pretty fake (i know some one will point out it is these poeple who are sucseeding and not the little bands), but there is some really good stuff out there, you Just have to look for it.

One more thing, musicains are beign a lot more experimental, someone said you can be experimental but at the end of the day you still suck, that maybe true, but your paving the way. New sounds are being made, although you might not be able to really utilise them, some else probably can. This should mean more diversity in music (it's hard to explain... listen to song "KID A" by radio head, i'm pretty sure they didn't come up with effects,it's just a vodex i think with some keyboard, but they've managed to use it pretty well).