Downloads

I see that the Charlatains new album is going to be released free off the net and that Radiohead are inviting people to pay whatever they feel for their new tracks. I've had a look and there isn't a box that you can tick where Thom Yorke has to pay me money to listen to the whiny student shite they put out these days (i used to quite like them until his "performance face" started to go all scary - like an inverse Dorian Gray he 's got a handsome great portrait hidden in one of his attics). The other thing is they can afford to do it, once you've got a bloody great house with more rooms than you could possibly need and a hybrid car to knob on about at dinner parties where do you go? More useless rooms and a green car with an engine that runs on re-cycled fridges? It's pointless! They don't need the money.

Lets face it music distribution is changing and the record company giants seem unable to keep up with the pace, but the two events noted above are red herrings that have gained the bands publicity worth more than the cash they are likely to lose on the downloads - job done - result!

My problem these days is there is too much music. Stuff you like from the past, tracks from the vaults that have been re-released and all the new releases as well as stuff on the radio that you don't want to hear but can't avoid - it's music overload.

However with the support of the various quality filters (magazines, mates and listening to it illegally before you consider purchasing it) we will cope.