Music and Pop Culture

A combination of industry articles (usually related to the Internet), attacks on Joe Lieberman, and observations through the lens of rock music.

The Second Romanian Revolution Will Be Televised
The TV Show Dallas Helped Overthrow Ceausescu. Now Gangsta Rap and Pop Culture Are Driving out Corrupt Post-Soviet Thugs
Reason - October 2005

Baby Love
The Hippie-Capitalist Wisdom of CD Baby Founder Derek Sivers, Hero to 93,000 Indie Musicians and Counting
LA Weekly - June 10, 2005

I'll Save the Cream Pie for Next Time
Review of U2, Live at the Staples Center
LA Weekly - April 15, 2005

Alt Business
Commerical Magazines Fill Gap Left By Commercial Radio
Reason - February 2004

George Harrison and Dissent
The Cry of 'Conformity!' is an Aesthetic, not Rational, Response
NewsForChange - December 7, 2001

Lieberman/Clinton vs. Hollywood
Hillary and Vinegar Joe Turn Democrats into Pro-censorship Party
NewsForChange - June 22, 2001

The Great Frat Divide
America's Seesawing Culture Wars Begin in the Sorority House
NewsForChange - March 16, 2001

Chocolat's Gooey Euro-Pudding
Where's the Pop Culture That Reflects Our Globalized World?
NewsForChange - February 16, 2001

Left of the Dial
'Breakfast With the Beatles' DJ Dies, Leaving One Less Soldier in the Fight Against Corporate Hell
NewsForChange - February 6, 2001

The Democrats' Religious-Right Ticket
Gore-Lieb's Bible-Thumping Hypocrisy and Pro-Censorship Views
Would Make Ed Meese Proud
NewsForChange - September 1, 2000

Future Miss U.S.A.
Filthy Hollywood Rockers More Clever Than Campaign Journalists
NewsForChange - August 16, 2000

Start the Revolution Without Me
My DSL Nightmare, and Why the Broadband Boom Is a Bust
Zone News - July 1, 2000

The Dawn of Sunset
How L.A. Became the Capital of Pop Music
Fodors.com - June 19, 2000

It's No Longer News When Rebels Sell Out
Meanwhile, the Biggest Conformists Keep Blathering 'Outside the Box'
NewsForChange - June 7, 2000

The 20-Year Cure for Banality
Goth Freaks Invade My House, to Remind Me Why
Robert Smith Still Matters
NewsForChange - June 2, 2000

Lament for the Death of Inspiration
The People and Publications Once Worth Emulating Have Become
Petty and Bloated, and No One Has Taken Their Place
NewsForChange - May 28, 2000

My Time in the DEN of Iniquity
Report on 6 Weird Weeks Spent at the Infamously Mismanaged
Digital Entertainment Network
Holemusic.com - May 25, 2000

The Debauchery of Human Interaction
How Today's Media Moguls Use Journalists as Human Shields Against Common Decency (Click Here for Parts Two and Three)
Online Journalism Review - April 6, 2000

Hollywood Goofy Over AOL-Time Warner
Merger Has Executives and Journalists Gossiping Like Schoolgirls
Wired News - February 4, 2000

Spin City for Troubled BMG Music
Boss Strauss Zelnick Downplays Botched Firing of Clive Davis,
The Threat of MP3, and the Mergers That Left Him Behind
Wired News - February 4, 2000

Deconstructing the Mergers
Industry Leaders to Convene in First Major Gathering
Since AOL Gobbled Time Warner and EMI
Wired News - February 2, 2000

Too Dumb to Snoop — So Far
Digital Downloading and Record Biz Consolidation
Still Pose Huge Threat Against Privacy
Wired News - February 2, 2000

AOL-Time Warner: Bully for L.A.
Merger Could Jump-Start Broadband, Force Entertainment
Industry to Get it Together
Zone News - February 1, 2000

When Mass Mediocrities Mate
So, AOL-Time Warner Is Bad for Good Journalism?
What Good Journalism?
Online Journalism Review - January 23, 2000

The Stealth Revolutionary
Why the Record Industry Should Be Terrified of
Marc Geiger and ARTISTDirect
Zone News - October 1, 1999

Thomas Dolby Says it's Payback Time
Major Labels Deserve Everything They're About to Get, Says
Nerd-Rocker
Wired News - September 9, 1999

Who Owns Internet News?
The Impossibly Complicated Web of Tech/Biz Sites' Ownerships and Partnerships, Untangled
PLUS: 8 Convoluted Family Trees
AND: Why CNN Loves Natalie Merchant
Online Journalism Review - June 23, 1998

The Prague Curse
The Promise and Pitfalls of the Czech Music Industry
Velvet - September 1995

Comments, questions, bad links? Send e-mail to Matt Welch.