Tagged: musicandsociety

I think it's nice to see some forms of what could be called "unique protest" out their in the music scenes today... protests against the mediocrity that's being released in so many cases. Advertisement: <!-- --> read more

Music can be a difficult addiction based on the "intensity." I might be able to effectively fund my album habit... CDs are relatively cheap... but collecting everything by a band can get pricey (and don't even get me started on collective musical instruments and recording gear). Live bootlegs, out of print rarities and other items can tap a collectors resources rather quickly. And then if you want to really become a collector, you move into music memorabilia, which can really get out of hand if you're talking about some of the biggest names in rock and roll [...]

It's been busy times in the music industry recently. I have unfortunately been a little busier still, and busier than I would have liked. Isn't it annoying when your day job gets in the way of what's really important? Like going to concerts, finding new bands or spending entire an day listening to free form jazz fusion and the progressive styling of Frank Zappa... Still, one thing I did manage to catch amongst all the turmoil was a bit of music industry news. The House Judiciary Committee recently approved a bill with a vote of [...]

Preface: I write based on inspiration and today this is what I was inspired to write. I know I've talked about these topics before, so hopefully this isn't too much of a rehash and if it is, I hope it is at least a little entertaining. I thought going a little more in depth about some of these ideas (read: take another crack at ranting about it), would be interesting... Enjoy. As any good music fanatic knows, when meeting other equally "obsessed" people, there are bound to be sparks that fly as intense discussions [...]

As someone who spends way too much of my day immersed in music, thinking in depth about the music industry itself seemed to come as a natural extension. I can't say it's always an enjoyably tangent to dwell on, as usually I end up thoroughly frustrated by all the greed, unethical practices and general lack of artistic vision that are a big part of the music industry, but overall it's pretty productive and has led to some interesting insights. Recently, I've been caught up in this idea of a sort of "cycle of mediocrity" within [...]

For the uninitiated, or even those who play a different instrument, the world of the electric guitar can be massively confusing and intimidating. Just take a quick browse through the Guitar Center website ( www.guitarcenter.com ). You'll find what might even appear to be a ridiculous number of different guitar from all sorts of makers, many of which would appear almost identical except to the most discerning eye. Continue on browsing and you'd find another almost ridiculous number of amps ranging from tiny little "carriable" amps with speakers so small they can't possible sound decent, all the [...]

This is part 4 of a 4 part piece I am writing, inspired by a pair of Smashing Pumpkins concerts and a DVD documentary. As you may or may not know, I am a big Smashing Pumpkins fan, I always appreciate their work. I feel the need to preface this piece by saying that as it will give you an insight into the context of my commentary. When I first planned on writing a piece about the Smashing Pumpkins, the concerts I attended and the DVD release, I kind of figured it might eventually [...]

Well, although we survived the hurricanes and the flooding, while all that was going down we fell into a new storm that is still effecting us and is spreading... the economic crisis. With the market on a perpetual roller-coaster, the US government working to do whatever they can to right the ship (including throwing money at the problem) and the general public wondering if we're going to be in for just a little recession or will be bartering for food by the end of the month, it's certainly exciting times that we live in. Well I [...]

It's been rough times here in the midwestern USA. Recent storms have caused ridiculous flooding, but I'm sure it's only a taste of what it's like down in Texas and the south. Hurricane Ike has hit pretty hard it seem and lthough good preparation and the hard work of a lot of brave people has hopefully kept casualties to a minimum, it's still a difficult situation. I'm sure everyone is doing everything they can to help those effected by recent storms either by physically doing what they can, or just by keeping them in their thoughts. [...]

As some of you may be aware, it's been exciting times in the world of rock recently. Rumors are flying left and right and there's been plenty of controversy as well, what with certain political parties deciding to use some "unlicensed" music as part of their campaign. Amongst all of that though, there was an album, first leaked and now released from a little metal band called Metallica. Death Magnetic is the name of the new album and Metallica fans have been clamoring to hear the new music, especially after it was unfortunately leaked shortly [...]

I happened upon a little news story today that struck a chord with me and has since spawned a little bit of a rant. You see, the story was about how this woman posted a video of her kid walking to a certain video sharing website... a video that just happened to have a song by a certain artist playing in the background. There were letters sent to have the video taken down due to copyright infringement or something etc etc. Perhaps you heard this bit of news? I won't go into the [...]