Somewhere else on this site (I’m not sure where… I’ve been doing online work for like 800 hours straight), I said “don’t get me started” about the music industry.  Too late… I’ve been on the industry’s case for ages. If you’ve spent any time in the store yapping with me, or you are a label rep that works with us, you know how we feel: The Music Biz runs about as well as the government.

Music Biz benefit: Meeting a legend like Robert Plant… I’m still excited about that.

With that said, did I mention that we are reopening a record store?  How about the fact we’ve been in this biz for twenty years?  So I guess in spite of our disdain for the some of the companies that are “stokin’ the star-maker machinery” (name that tune), the industry itself just keeps drawing us back.

Oops.  I’m supposed to babbling in the blog, and providing quick, useful information on the site.  OK, we’ll do that now.  Below are the links that relate to the industry- the companies, blogs, sites, and organizations in which we believe.

Music Biz Links

Coalition of Independent Music Stores. The CIMS stores are the some of the greatest independent record stores in the country. Whenever we travel, we visit the store that’s listed for that particular city.  This summer, I was lucky enough to visit Twist and Shout in Denver and Looney Tunes on Long Island.

The Lefsetz Letter. Bob Lefsetz is an passionate and opinionated dude.  I’ve been on his email blog for years.  We don’t always agree with what he says – but he says a lot of things that other people in our industry won’t say – so usually we do agree with him.  Lefsetz covers most areas of the business, from retail to touring, but he is especially hard on the CEOs that refuse to acknowledge the digital revolution.  If you are interested in this business, this is a good blog.

Pitchfork Media. At our old store – Pitchfork ruled.  It was a trusted source for our ASU customers.  I have resisted for ages due to my rebellious nature (it’s a reverse thing, like “I’m not twenty, so I don’t need to do what all the twenty year olds do”), but I have come around recently. Maybe that’s because Kristian, the guy who got a cell phone ten years after everyone else, says he checks it daily (he has joined the digital world a lot more lately, but don’t ask him where our Myspace is or anything).  He may not care about tech stuff, but he knows music, and that means Pitchfork is still a trusted source of info for us.