Okay so I wasn't there I still listened.

Enon

I should like this cd. It has all the parts in music. But there is something I find as I continue to listen to it that makes me reach for something else. The songs taken individually aren’t bad, but when put together for periods of time they tend to just get lost and at times annoying. Tried three times to listen, took six times to finish. 2

The Kills

My biggest mistake with this band is that I watched them live on Conan O’Brien. They were terrible. They relied way to heavily on backing tracks and their voices live were nowhere near what I heard on the cd. So I went from this could be interesting to wow what a studio-produced band. Found myself over analyzing the cd and noticed it was a bit repetitious and again studio produced. 2

REM

The best cd REM has put out in a long time. True, but that doesn’t really set the bar up that high does it? My definition of REM ends when Bill Berry quit the group. Since then they have seemed a bit lost. Luckily for this disc the thing they brought back was not Peter Bucks guitar, but someone who actually plays the drums and not a rhythm track for the rest of the group. All being said this isn’t a great REM cd. It’s not even in their top 5. There are some good songs, the single is quite good, but overall there are too many valleys and not enough peaks. Still it’s a good listen, but when it comes to playing anything by these guys in the future it will probably be one that has Bill Berry playing on it. 2.5

Jimmy Eats World

I like this group a lot. I think the singer has a great voice. They right short catchy guitar driven songs that stick in your brain. My choices might have been different than Jenn’s but her selection is a great representation of the band. Plus they deserve kudos for surviving a great single and still surviving and putting out two decent follow up cd’s afterwards. Tough to do nowadays.

Topic

The demise of the music industry started long before social networking sites even were a thought. With more thought placed on the quick dollar rather than artist development, the industry overlooked a tool that would guarantee them artist success. The Internet.

Instead of using the tools available to get artists out to the public, they looked to fight it and stop music from being heard. So instead of using these networks to bring new artists to the masses as they used college radio in the 80’s and videos in the 90’s, they just blocked exposure.

So its not the social networking sites that caused the demise of the music industry. It’s a poor business plan based on short-term profits over long-term growth. The networking just helped the cause along.

As for the future, it has already started. Artists are looking at the industry as a way to mass distribute product if and when they need them. The truly major labels are only now getting involved if they are promised a piece of merchandising and tour profits. Hopefully that means that the industry will move more towards a support tool with a focus on touring and networking to create artists.

Of course as soon as someone figures out a way to make boatloads of dough, everyone else is going to copy it.