Ho We're so independant, free thinking, not tied to the corporate dollar, unless.........Coke ? Bundles of cash ? Sure thing, I'll write a song strait away. You corporate slag Jack White, but then they're all the same. You might of thought that The Who had sold enough records to buy a fish farm or two, but they still found that a few more dollars would come in handy when they let Budweiser sponsor their 1989 tour, and with that the corporate floodgates opened. As rock fans we exist in an odd state, we want our idols to be edgy and free spirited, dangerous and anti-establishment, yet at the same time we understand that it takes a multi-million pound industry to deliver those albums and tours to us, or does it ? The astonishing success of The Arctic Monkeys debut album shows that relatively unknown bands can harness the internet media to create a buzz and sales rush for a band if handled well. As music sales gradually drift away from 'physical' products into the realm of downloads it should in theory be easier for a band to shift it's products without needing the big record companies to back them up. This loooks like a win-win situation, back to the old punk ethic of creating your own record label and distribution. It also carries pitfalls of course, those websites that have built their reputations and influence in the on-line music scene now all carry advertising space, and if you are getting paid for adverts then it's not good sense to write things that will antagonise your advertisers, and so the circle continues. The big record companies are experiencing financial troubles at the moment, music buying patterns, and the problems with file sharing, driven by the iPod generation have changed faster than they and their satellite partners the record shops to cope with. Does it matter if HMV and Virgin close their shops on the high street ? If you're mostly mainstream then maybe yes, if on the other hand you're into anything different, metal and punk in my case, then you're probbly already sick and tired of paying over the odds for a very limited selection of cd's in your field of interest. Or you're probably just fed up with paying £12 for a cd you can buy on-line for £9. The music industry has changed in the time I have been a music fan. Record labels are no longer interested in building fan bases for bands and creating long term success, now they require instant, disposable acts, one album wonders that will sell heavily in the young teen groups and then fade away next year in favour of the next big thing. On top of this America has become ever more insular in it's music buying, and with laws enacted that make it harder for band members to get work permits that market has become so much harder to break into. Thus we see almost no British musicians doing well in the States, whilst decent Brtish rock acts like Hundred Reasons and InMe are dropped from their labels for not becoming instant megastars. Money attracts money, the big bits in the cess tank stick together, let's hope that some of our idols can remain true to the cause of free speech, try to buy more than you file share, buy it independantly, seek out new bands and support them, keep music alive. A few websites for you...... Killer Coke, asking if Coke is involved in murder and kidnapping in Columbia. Mostly Water an article detailing the problems Coke is creating to the environment in India and elsewhere. Last.fm / Audioscrobbler, chart maker and online music community, there are adverts and sponsorship. MySpace personal web page site with friend and band linking, though folk have been warning if you write things in your MySpace blog that the company doesn't like, you're barred. Music Download, pages for up and coming acts (and more established bands) with free downloads. iSound.com, artist pages with free downloads and friend/artist linking, not part of iPod. Fanatic one man speed metal band with 20+ albums for free download. Add your own favourite music sites in the comments and I'll pop them up on the front page at some point.