You don't have to be an asshole to be a rock and roll star, but if you want to be a rock and roll manager it's pretty much a requirement. It's not just good for your business, but it's good for your competitors' business as well. Just ask Irving Azoff, the CEO of Ticketmaster (and manager of The Eagles) who testified in Congress today about the proposed Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger:

...Azoff argued that the merger could bring new opportunities for existing ticketing companies. "We've been told and we believe that if this merger were approved, that many of our larger clients would opt out," he said, pointing out that Ticketmaster has about 11,000 clients. "From hearing all the comments that I hear, I think that so many people would be upset about this merger that I'm sure a lot of our clients would leave."

In other words, being the biggest asshole on the block and pissing everybody off inspires competition and innovation among all the people who'd like to kick the shit out of you. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the kind of thinking that helped bring the music business, and everything else, to the edge of collapse to begin with?