What's a music-download fan to do -- actually pay for music?

If it comes to that, they'll find that a lot has changed in the online music business.

These rental-music outfits are highly conducive to exploring and discovering new music. They're ideal if your taste leans toward what one Internet wag calls Disposable Contemporary.

Britney to Rent, Lease or Buy

The rest of the Beethoven symphonies will be broadcast and posted this week. Listen while you read the Grokster decision.

Symphony 6 will be broadcast on Monday 27th June, and available to download from Tuesday 28th June to Monday 4th July.

Symphony 7 will be broadcast on Tuesday 28th June, and available to download from Wednesday 29th June to Tuesday 5th July.

Symphony 8 will be broadcast on Wednesday 29th June, and available to download from Thursday 30th June to Wednesday 6th July.

Symphony 9 will be broadcast on Thursday 30th June, and available to download from Friday 1st July to Thursday 7th July.

BBC - Radio 3 - Beethoven Experience - downloads

"If everyone else is putting out horrible CD's," he said, "why not buy something from people with taste you more or less trust?"

Little-Known Bands Get Lift Through Word-of-Blog

Download all nine of Beethoven's symphonies here the day after they are broadcast.

Grab Beethoven, free, while it lasts...

BBC - Radio 3 - Beethoven Experience - downloads

First seen live at The Technics World DMC DJ Championships 2005 UK heats (minus the outfit !!)

Werd!

Keltech strikes back, star wars scratch video, empire strikes back

] A friend who relocated to California from NY said she
] missed hearing all the odd variety of music that was
] played around the office here. "I miss hearing what
] you all are listening to," she wrote. This "radio"?
] is my response. It will stream for a few hours and then
] it will recycle. Maybe it will run longer in the future.
] The artists played here are respectful of one another and
] gunplay is forbidden.

I haven't checked this out yet but it sounds worth a listen.

Radio DavidByrne.com

] I had plenty of life experience to draw from while
] working on this record," says Trent Reznor of White
] Teeth, Nine Inch Nails' first album in six years. "I was
] getting sane while the world was going crazy."
]
] Due May 3rd, the follow-up to 1999's The Fragile bristles
] with as much aggression as anything in the NIN catalog
] while adding more live drumming into the mix, courtesy of
] honorary Nailsman Dave Grohl.

RollingStone.com: Nine Inch Nails Bite Back

] ska has a rich history and more recordings than you can
] shake an ass at. i've put together a a collection of
] songs here that i feel represents what i love about the
] music. other ska enthusiasts will surely have different
] tastes and will prioritize a different set of artists
] (notice that prince buster is nowhere to be found here,
] but the slackers have two tracks). my goal is to show the
] progression of roots ska through rocksteady, early
] reggae, and even a few two-tone and third-wave revival
] tracks that deserve respect.

I'm not a big fan of modern poppunkska, but mostly because of the poppunk rather then the ska. I haven't gone through this yet but I'm hopeful. The 80's are conspicuously missing. I'd have included the Police.

Ska for the Skeptical

] ] Austin City Limits caputres one of the year's biggest
] ] rock 'n' roll reunions as legendary alt-rockers the
] ] Pixies perform. With vintage fire the band takes the
] ] stage to perform their classics filled with brutal noise
] ] and impressionistic lyrics.

Reposting as a reminder. My tivo says this is playing on GPB on the 12th. Check your local listings.

RE: PBS - Austin City Limits - The Pixies Live

] Martin and Ruth, aka Spike, the next big girl/boy duo (so
] they hope) add some synth and a new background vocal to
] the mix. He saves the song and she emails it to
] Polyphonic Human Media Interface who, within 24 hours,
] will tell them whether their song will be a hit. When the
] results arrive they hover over the 20in screen and click
] on the returned mail. There is a graph, showing a cluster
] of many dots, like a constellation, and somewhere in the
] cluster a red spot. The spot marks their song, not quite
] a bullseye, but still in the throng. "It's scored a
] seven," Ruth says, scanning down. "We're in. The record
] company will definitely meet us now." Their future
] suddenly looks a lot rosier.

This seems ahead of it's time. Quite impressive. I'm going to disagree with Kerry here. This is the future. First, it gets cheap enough for every band to tune every song on the suckometer such that it becomes a hit. Then, it gets cheap enough that everyone with garage band can work against the suckometer. Thats when the music industry really starts to collapse, because your friends start producing billboard quality music in their garage. Then someone decides to eliminate the middle man and simply have the computer compose the music directly. Of course, this enables lots of customization.

The end result is that humans will view music as simply a mirror which reflects and re-enforces their emotions. In the same way they use political commentators. In the same way they use clothing. It won't matter that it isn't being made by a person. The idea of people making music will seem quaint. Sort of like having a professional pianist living in your house instead of buying a stereo. Something so expensive and unnecessary that it will seem a little sickening. The machines will do it better. They'll make you feel the way you want to feel, exactly when you want to feel that way, and they'll never bore you with repetitive songs...

Don't worry. You'll be long dead when this all comes to pass.

Guardian Unlimited | Together in electric dreams