Everybody’s got a crackpot scheme to save the music industry these days—giving away songs for free, sending people on wild goose-chases, just giving up and waiting for the current global mess to blow over. One radio analyst has thrown his own proposal in the ring, and it not only plays to the shortened attention span of the modern age, it eliminates the possibility of piracy from home-taped radio rips! Edison Research co-founder Larry Rosin thinks that programmers should turn pop radio into an endless stream of sub-two-minute “trailers” of songs, so that hits would be both distilled down to their essence and only available in full to people willing to pony up 99 cents. Hmm. It sounds so crazy, it just might work! Let’s hear more! MORE »
POSTS FROM "burning questions" CATEGORY
burning questions
Should Pop Radio Force Every Song To Clock In At Under Two Minutes?
burning questions
MTV (Sort Of) Wants To Know: How Brit-Tastic Should This Year’s Video Music Awards Be?
So far, the responses to MTV’s Twitter query over whether or not Britney Spears should perform at this year’s Video Music Awards, thus completing the “horrifying spectacle to redeemed (if slightly faded) pop star” narrative that began in Las Vegas two Septembers ago, are running about 40-to-1 in favor of her appearing on the telecast. I mean, is there any way this isn’t going to happen? It’s self-referential and it has a good chance of having a happy ending! Win-win-win! [Twitter via Vicki] MORE »
burning questions
“Since it is fair to assume that famous rappers do in fact get a lot of groupie action, it is also reasonable to believe that songs like this are in some way non-fictional, and the girls described in the lyrics are actual people, or at least composites of women the rappers have been with. (You know, like in New York Magazine!) So with that in mind, what do you reckon it’s like for these ladies when these sort of sex tunes come out?” [Fluxblog] MORE »
burning questions
Would You Be Upset If Keith Richards Outlived You?
John Nelson Palmer, a 62-year-old Colorado resident who passed away on Monday, certainly was: According to his daughter, he cursed the fact that a man who allegedly snorted his father remained on this mortal coil longer than he did with one of his dying breaths. “I can’t believe Keith Richards outlived me,” Palmer said shortly before he passed. The 65-year-old Richards hasn’t yet commented on Palmer’s last words, but here’s hoping he at least thinks to send a tasteful flower arrangement. [Aspen Daily News via Gawker] MORE »
reunions
Why Is Damon Albarn Wearing A Backpack While Rehearsing?
Blur’s first concert since 2000 is happening in London this Saturday, and to whet peoples’ appetites–and make Americans who don’t have the type of spending money to jet across the Atlantic to see Blur for a weekend insanely jealous–they’ve posted footage of themselves rehearsing three songs online: “Song 2,” “For Tomorrow,” and “Death Of A Party.” But as many astute YouTube observers noted, lead singer Damon Albarn is wearing a backpack during the test run of “Song 2.” Why would that be? Are there weights in there to help him get in shape for what might be a hyperactive performance of the most unlikely jock jam? Is he hoping to bring back raving? Did he really not want to lose his keys? So many mysteries. Video after the jump! MORE »
web 2.no
Where Is Iuma Dylan-Lucas Thornhill Now?
Back in the old days of the Internet, before Twitter contests and became all the rage, Web companies used to promote themselves by convincing various entities to rename themselves after their brands. (For example, one town in Oregon named itself after the resale site Half.com.) One of the odder stunts, however, involved the Internet Underground Music Archive, a.k.a. IUMA: It promised $5,000–or $100 worth of free downloads, for life–to any couple that would name its child after the site. And people actually did it! MORE »
burning questions
Something Tells Me That Grizzly Bear Isn’t *Everybody’s* Favorite New York City Band
Dear New York: Please get back to me six months after the promo cycle for Veckatimest has ended so you can test the staying power of your Grizzly Bear profile’s subhed, which states that the foursome (whose new album comes out next week) is “everybody’s favorite New York band.” MORE »
burning questions
Is Penny Arcade’s “Guitar Hero: Nirvana” Joke Funny Or Too Soon Or Just Stupid?
When a friend of mine sent me today’s installment of the Web comic Penny Arcade, which is a joke centered on the “special accessories” that come with the still-theoretical Nirvana edition of Guitar Hero, I said, “Oh, ouch.” “Everybody says ouch,” he replied. And why is that? MORE »
burning questions
Hey, Warner Brothers: Who’s Your Target Market For “Covered”?
Warner Brothers Records is celebrating its 50th year as a label with an album of current artists covering classic cuts from the label’s archives, and while I suppose there’s some appeal to hearing Taking Back Sunday play a Tom Petty track, let’s be real: Who is going to pay for that privilege in the Internet age? MORE »
burning questions
What Is The “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)” Of Today?
Here are a few facts about me as a youngster. 1) I was a camp counselor. 2) I could use computers. 3) I knew something about music. 4) I had a tendency to take on too much responsibility. Add all that up, and you get involved in a lot of photo montages from graduations or end-of-session assemblies. Back in the 90s, there were a few obvious choices for soundtrack, no-brainers that worked every time. For a while, it was Sarah McLaughlin’s “I Will Remember You,” but in 1997 came Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life).” Why was it so perfect? It wasn’t just the nail-on-the-head lyrics, but the wistful, bittersweet tone of the music that someone made you want to put your arms around the smelly, t-shirted frames of people you had spent far too much time around in the past weeks and sway back and forth. But what, I wondered, are kids using today for their montages? I took to YouTube to find out. MORE »
