Of course, the music industry is far from the only legacy industry treading turbulent waters. The New York Times’ bond rating is rapidly approaching junk bond levels; which means, as Thomas Lifson notes, "that many bond funds will be unable to purchase NYTCo debt, meaning that the company will have to pay sharply higher interest rates on its borrowings."

Considering the tut-tutting the Times has historicallly given Mike Milken, after he essentially created the high yield marketplace in the late '70s and early '80s, I wonder what he thinks of this.