New-World RCRD: New music 'label' tries a different approach The Revolution Train´s been rolling for a couple months, so it´s no surprise that it´s finally pulled into the local s
Radiohead's pay-what-you-want experiment, aka In Rainbows, has been selling strongly, with people choosing to pay a little less than they'd pay for better quality versions at Amazon. While the
Political candidates live in dread of the "October Surprise," a cataclysmic or world-changing (but unpredictable) event that changes our perspective. Not necessarily 9/11, but maybe a ship bombi
I've always wondered how the other half lives. You know, the XM/HD Full-Spread Cable set. So I checked out three popular subscription music plans, each promising the world for less than the cost
It's the end of radio. The last announcer plays the last record. The last watt leaves the last transmitter, in search of a listener. Can you hear me now. Can you hear me now? Is it really broadca
Imagine sharing your whole music library. Not just with friends and family, but anyone on the Internet. What if major label tracks were playable on any computer or player? What if the whole sheban
With parents scarred by The Depression, baby-boomers came of age under Ronald Reagan, cashing out dreams of a Great Society for "incredibly sweet" deals. As Rush Limbaugh infected the airwaves
This column marks a milestone for the DistroRevo. After nearly a year of playing catch-up with old stuff, we're covering a brand new release! Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds' live set The Abattoir B
Mid-1990s darlings Barenaked Ladies have been riding the new media train for quite a while, but their latest work is a major label's fantasy. The new BNL album is a collection of unused tracks fr
What separates a compilation of cast-offs from a classic? When I finally managed to separate the discs from the packaging, Public Enemy's latest, Beats and Places, fell apart in my hands. Literal
At last month's Consumer Electronics Show, Disney chief Bob Iger said, "From my perspective, the best way to combat piracy is to bring content to market on a well-timed, well-priced basis." Hol
While Sept. 11, 2001, was a catalyst, 2006 will be remembered as a tipping point. Just as agriculture led from cities and empires to corporations and industries, data and network technology have c
As promised, we're returning to the seas of data for another pod fishin' expedition. This time we're digging a little deeper into the emerging world of "mash-ups." While not exactly podcasts,
Last month, EMI Chief Executive Alain Levy said that the CD was "dead" (note the quotes). While this made for great headlines, it required a fair degree of selective listening (and quoting!) to
The underlying concept is bizarre. Covering DEV2.0 -- Alt music pioneers Devo's foray into kid's music -- in CityBeat seems blasphemous, absurd or maybe both. How do we get our minds around a p
By now even grandma knows what an iPod is. Apple's tiny players changed the shape of music -- the antithesis to the challenge of Napster, the iPod created a way to sell music at a lower cost to f
So what's a DualDisc, and who needs it? The major labels have come up with another new format, on the heels of their two still-births, SACD and DVD-A. I'm a hands-on sort, so I picked up the fir
Music fans have a long-standing love affair with the album -- a collection of songs stamped on plastic donuts of various sizes. Artists became stars, labels got rich. Record profits came from resell