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Tag: They are a Changin

The Times, They are a Changin

The Times, They are a Changin’

I feel really validated this month. I took a look at the current editions of Wired and Spin, and both magazines held significant sections on how modern music is slowly starting to embrace the internet and alternate ways of releasing music. Wired featured the remix encouragers Beck and Nettwerk Records, while Spin featured Gnarls Barkley (whose “Crazy” was a product of blog frenzy) and the entire Indian extreme metal scene (which has recently appeared due to increased ability to hear metal and get their metal heard via myspace).

Wired also featured a long article on Pitchfork, an online music magazine sorta like ours (you may have heard of it, eh?) that has so much power in the music world that it can literally get a CD taken out of stores (Travis Morrison’s Travistan).

Even though the realization that people are getting all excited about electronic distribution was exciting to hear, the real excitement was over the Pitchfork article. If there was any doubt in my mind as to who the Rolling Stone of music e-zines is, it’s been cleared up. Pitchfork has been generally accepted.

And as we all know, that’s when things are ready for change. Now I’m not saying that Pitchfork is going down the drain or anything- but for Every Rolling Stone, there’s a Spin. And a Wire. And a Wired (just to confuse you). And a Vibe. And dozens of other magazines.

Now that online magazines are finally starting to receive some credibility as the trend-making, literary establishments that they have the potential to be, people may be warmer to everything that’s related to a zine- getting involved as a writer, advertising, sending press material out, reading religiously.

Right now is a fantastic time to be a music lover. After the stop-gap that was CDs, we’re right on the cusp on seeing a brand new market format take over in the music business- and it’s extremely exciting.

If you’re a lover of music magazines, it’s an even better time to be around. Things are about to get very interesting- just stick around and see what happens. I guarantee that new things are going to impress you. Because the times, they are a’changin’.

Stephen Carradini

IndependentClauses@hotmail.com