The latest:

>> From yesterday's New York Times: Rob Walker puts forth a great idea for paperback music.

Related but different: A few days ago, my new CMJ Music Monthly showed up. I used to love CMJ: Each month, I'd receive a magazine, along with a CD full of new music. The editorial in the magazine tied to the music on the disc. Genius.

I'd actually seen the thing before, way back in high school. We're talking mid-'80s here. How issues of Debut ended up in Carson City, I never will know, but it was the same idea, just with LPs. You'd buy the record, and instead of liner notes, there was an entire magazine. That's how I first encountered the British wuss-rock that made me what I am today. I remember feeling guilty the first time I listened -- and liked -- that music. I put some on a cassette, and carefully played some of it for my friends, who were all into Yes or Rush or Genesis or Jethro Tull. They kind of smiled and didn't say much.

But back to today. Of 14 tracks on the latest CMJ disc, all but one sucked. And I knew I would like the track from Guided by Voices before I even listened to it. So I used Napster to look up some of the other music that was reviewed in the issue (but not included on the disc) to see if it was stuff I would buy. It's easy for a reviewer to compare a band to the Magnetic Fields, but only by listening to one or two tracks can you really tell. And I didn't like any of it enough to go out and buy a disc.

This is the point that the recording industry continues to miss. And I still haven't received any sort of response from those jerks.
posted by Bryan at 1:49 AM