Required reading and listening for this weekend:

In an open letter to the record industry posted by Jack Davey of J*Davey on her blog:

the age old model is failing . as an industry based on faithful consumers you have lost your connection with the people who matter most : the PEOPLE . you have yet to show them that you are with the changing times & able to adapt to something new . you are proving that you are too afraid to promote good music . you would rather let the monotonous drone of what is today’s music remain unbalanced by substance . you would rather watch more legendary artists abandon you for direct deals with itunes & touring companies .“[emphasis mine, read the rest here.]

Pretty much recommended reading for anyone who listens to digital music in any form. The game isn’t changing - it already changed. And she’s not the only one who feels like this, either - Saul Williams pulled a Radiohead for his latest release (and is doing very well with it, from what I hear), Labratz (hear them on the show here) went straight online on theirs ($8.99 for the full album, damn), I think Suburb is doing something similar, and real talk? We don’t need the industry, the industry needs us.

Switching gears only slightly:

Are you one of those waiting for Jay Electronica’s Act II? There’s a few snippets in here.


“I make music, and I just want you to have it.”

Jay Electronica
on the infamous Giles Peterson’s podcast. A lot of insight into Jay’s background in New Orleans and artistic drive. This is damn near an hour long, and some of the tracks will already be familiar to Mixtape Show listeners, but there’s some new snippets in here and it’s overall a very worthwhile listen if you got a minute. Direct mp3 link here, but check the dude’s site too.

Sneak peek: Act II is coming, and it will be free. Act III will be a commercial release but the proceeds will go to the displaced families of the Magnolia projects in New Orleans. And he’ll continue to put free material out here.

2008 is shaping up to be a very interesting year.