A Solid Call 2.0

: Digital rights advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation is launching "Let the Music Play" -- an ad camplaign "urging the more than 60 million U.S. citizens who use file-sharing software to demand changes in copyright law to get artists paid and make file-sharing legal." My view: It's a ballsy, idealistic position to take, but one I think will need to be reckoned with in the long run. High-minded questions like "Can someone own information?" seem almost mystical in their philosophical nature, but people are getting sued for that in the here and now.

: Have you ever watched a t.A.T.u. video and thought -- Sure 2 teenage russian lesbians making out is super hot, but perhaps it could be hotter if it were 2 teenage asian lesbians making out? Universal Music has heard your cries.

: Amazon is taking pre-orders for Dido's next record. It's set for Sept 9. The title is not yet decided upon, but this could be a big seller. There is a certain segment of the population that buy one CD a year. Last year, they all happened to buy Norah Jones. This year, it could be Dido -- depending on the single. I know I'm excited.... 7/3/2003 Update: The name of the disc is Life For Rent and was produced by Rollo (Faithless). The source where that came from says Sept 30. though. The first single is said to be titled "White Flag".

: When Netscape/AOL Music's front page feature said "You think the Victoria's Secret catalog is hot? Take a gander at our underwear models!" I thought maybe they had stolen a certain top secret idea. But, luckily they were just collecting all the artist portraits that happened to be hot and in "lingeré". A close call... but the Victoria's Secret radio station is still possible...

: Salon.com Technology | iTunes -- the "i" doesn't stand for innovation: I missed this one from a week ago. A Salon columnist argues that selling singles will bring about the decline of the album -- and thus the decline of risk-taking and creative extension. This may be the case, but unfortunately I don't think that's an excuse to not give the consumer what she wants. It remains to be seen how the economics of music creation are changed, but it seems to me that ultimately whoever creates the most interesting content - singles, a series of singles, maybe a series of singles that become a unit of work -- will still prosper. A few off-base Salon-reader responses to the piece are here.

: Listen to the Future! -- and see the future of shiny shirts! I give it up to this guy. DIY takes guts.

: Deathray Davies: Not The K**** A quick and dirty interview I did with two guys from the Deathray Davies, a cool indie pop band.

: Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | The Hulk speaks! - An interview with the REAL Hulk. Ferrigno seems all class.

: Ardour - A Digital Audio Workstation for Linux. For LINUX! A free tool to replace ProTools? Well, maybe someday.. it's still in beta. I wonder if it runs on Lindows.