Jonathan and I have spent most of the last week trying to upgrade our MP3 encoder machine to a faster one, in the hopes that doing so will eliminate some of the weird, intermittent problems we've been having. We couldn't just upgrade the CPU for one stupid reason, and then we couldn't put the new mobo in the old case for another stupid reason, and so on, and so on, so it's a whole new machine with a fresh install, and suffice it to say that it's been a nightmare of now-familiar proportions. We're currently running on the new machine, so I expect in the next few weeks we'll be learning about the all new, all different set of problems we've traded in the old set for.

Here's an interesting article that just came to my attention -- it is a detailed history of the music industry, from the 18th century through 1999. From Music Publishing to MP3: Music and Industry in the Twentieth Century, by Reebee Garofalo. It goes into a great deal of detail about how things ended up the way they are; it really makes it clear that, from the beginning, the history of the music industry is a story of entrenched monopolies striking back at technological advances that undermine existing business models.

So, based on the email we've been getting, apparently I need to clarify something.

When I say "live music" I mean "bands." I do not mean "Live PA." I do not mean "dueling laptops." And I most especially do not mean, "standing there and playing someone else's records."

I've gotten several messages along the lines of, "yeah, live music, great! I dj deep house, when can I spin?" The mind reels.