News

Clarke Bustard chronicles the progression of independent, “art” composers as they move from niche labels at the majors to controlling their own destinies as independents.

Great coverage in last week’s Philadelphia Weekly of the exploding independent label scene in and around Philly.

Alan Mann is one of those artists you know through the work of the artists he influenced, and a pile of those artists are about to celebrate the anniversary of his birth in his hometown.

97 Radio closes its doors.

Perhaps Wal-Mart spreads evil across the land? Perhaps they’re just a clever, seemingly invincible, business juggernaut? Whichever side you find yourself on, you’ll have them to thank for pushing CD list prices below ten dollars. (Which, again, may be a…

A campus newspaper from Seattle reminds us that every big name band started out in some local club somewhere…

The first of many articles to describe, on the eve of her new release, what’s up with Ani Difranco.

Whether it’s our own Schoolkids Records here in Athens, or other indie retail success stories, there’s lots of proof now that a tightly focused, fun independent record store can survive the same dismal market that caused the mighty Tower Records…

Peter Gabriel’s latest project aims to make digital distribution transparent. [ via Clark Howard ]

Tower Records files bankruptcy this week. I’m not sure why, given the hefty markup they’re putting on my book!

I dunno how the heck I missed this one. Some folks told me about it a few weeks ago, and I didn’t think I wanted to believe that a Clear Channel skunk works project actually had merit… Indie 103.1 is…

Chris Lewis from Nashville’s City Paper elicits one of the most compelling and honest interviews with a sitting label president I have read. John Grady, president of Sony Music Nashville, comments openly about the havoc that consolidation has wrought on…