Big music just doesn't get it... again.

You really have to wonder if the music industry is oblivious or actually trying to transition to obsolescence. Though there have been great strides in being able to purchase digital music with little or no restrictions, two of the more innovative music-related sites on the 'net are in danger of going under.

Muxtape, the virtual mixtape application is currently shut down (and has been for a few weeks) citing "problem with the RIAA". The "problem" is most likely that the RIAA wants them to either pay up or stop using copyrighted music. Muxtape claims none of the labels or artists have complained about their service, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'd fly under the radar of the big meanies at the industry group.

Possibly more troubling is some comments from virtual radio station site Pandora indicating that they're paying new fees on the music they broadcast over the Internet. Fees that traditional broadcast radio stations don't have to pay. Considering the reach of terrestrial radio compared to online radio like Pandora, it seems disingenuous to charge extra fees to broadcast over the Internet. The net result is Pandora is basically running on borrowed time because they're not profitable or even sustainable with the increased fees.

I've never been a user of Muxtape (though I know people who are and love it), but I'm a big believer in Pandora and Pandora-like services being the future of radio-style music delivery... mainly because your "stations" are based on a really complex--and very accurate in most cases--analysis of what you like in music.

VentureBeat has a good piece on one (very radical) scenario where all music is free and artists are paid by patrons. Sound familiar? If you're a history buff (especially art and music history), it should. That's how things were (and still are in some cases) done in the art and music world prior to wide-scale commercialization.

Aside from the idea of patronage, the fact that the recording industry doesn't seem to get that these new delivery methods are disruptive technology is troubling. Truth is, the music industry has to adapt to the way people these days want their music, and any attempt to muscle people back into the "way things were" is akin to putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.

msNBC... National Barack Channel?

MSNBC executives have decided to pull the plug on Keith Olbermann (Countdown) and Chris Matthews (Hardball). Both anchors will not be at the helm when MSNBC delivers “political night” coverage. For the record, executives have blamed dismal Nielsen ratings as a justification for the move. Anyone watching MSNBC knows that it might have more to do with impartial reporting than audience share.

Somewhere along the way, Keith lost the script. Within 18 months he's gone from super broadcaster (I’ve been a fan of Olbermann and SC since 1992) to leftist mouthpiece without a sign of neutrality. Its been painful at times enduring the Olbermann/Matthews man-crush on Obama. MSNBC’s coverage of the DNCC in Denver was memorable and ugly at the same time. Switching from Chris’s tingly feelings to what seemed like Fox News broadcasting live from a funeral was awkward to say the least.

During convention coverage, Olbermann apologized to his viewers after MSNBC aired a September eleventh video homage created by the Republican Party. Olbermann said, “we would be rightly eviscerated at all quarters, perhaps by the Republican Party itself, for exploiting the memories of the dead, and perhaps even for trying to evoke that pain again, if you reacted to that videotape the way I did, I apologize.” I think Keith may have missed the memo on MSNBC re-airing “9/11 AS IT HAPPENED” (two hours of September 11th, 2001 footage including the terror of both towers falling, etc. etc.) yesterday, September 11th, 2008.

So… is there objectivity on FOX News, MSNBC, or CNN… if not, where can you find it?

Journalism ethics: Where do you stand?

The Society of Professional Journalists is holding its annual convention this week, and discussions of ethics in journalism are once again drawing interest. The SPJ issued a press release from its ethics committee which outlines some of the highs and lows in journalism ethics over the past year. Many of the ethical lows are related to media outlets trying to make more money by securing deals that ultimately end up placing their objectivity and credibility into question. In one example cited in the SPJ press release, a Fox TV affiliate in Las Vegas penned a sponsorship deal in which McDonald's drink cups will sit on the anchor desk during broadcasts with the cups' logos facing the camera. As media consumers, do deals like this bother you and make you call into question the credibility of the news outlets? Or do you think they are a necessary part of the competitive, bottom-line world of modern mass media?