CH-CH-CH-CHANGES: Again from the New York Times -- David Bowie embraces the inevitable:

"I don't even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, because I don't think it's going to work by labels and by distribution systems in the same way," [Bowie] said. "The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it's not going to happen. I'm fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing.

"Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity"; he added. "So it's like, just take advantage of these last few years because none of this is ever going to happen again. You'd better be prepared for doing a lot of touring because that's really the only unique situation that's going to be left. It's terribly exciting. But on the other hand it doesn't matter if you think it's exciting or not; it's what's going to happen."

Depressing news for those of us who dabble at music composition, but who are not so technically proficient that we're prepared to perform in front of a live audience. Still, it's hard to imagine a scenario -- the RIAA's protestations to the contrary -- where all historical protections afforded to intellectual property will remain rigidly, permanently in place in the digital age. Guess I'd better start practicing my arpeggios again.

Quoting the same passage, Dave Copeland adds: "[W]ouldn't you love to be able to download an album and then spend the $16 you would have paid for the CD on tickets to a show? If only, Dave. If only. A pair of tickets for the upcoming Yes reunion show at Radio City just set me back over two hundred bucks! God bless'em that a bunch of aging prog-rockers, who never had a #1 hit in all the years since the band was founded in 1969, can command that kind of tribute at this late date. But they shouldn't expect to sell many CDs the day after. My discretionary entertainment budget for the year is completely shot.