Frontline interview from PBS’ The Way the Music Died. I don’t know that I’d so blithely use Woodstock as any kind of benchmark – the execs certainly knew about CSNY as a purely commercial undertaking – but nevertheless there’s a lot to glean from any interview with Crosby on this subject.

Record companies are quickly becoming nothing more than caricatures of themselves, as you can see in this Wired News article: Record Industry Wants Still More. You think they’d be happy that things are finally starting to move in their direction. The only shocking thing to learn is that Tina Weymouth seems to have bought in to the RIAA party line. I would hope for more sophistication from her.

Disney is preventing Miramax from distributing Michael Moore’s next film, Fahrenheit 911. Many will call it censorship, and there are concerns that Jeb Bush has warned Disney to take such action in exchange for tax breaks in Florida. More accurately, it’s cowardice: “The [Disney] executive said Mr. Moore’s film is deemed to be against Disney’s interests not because of the company’s business dealings with the government but because Disney caters to families of all political stripes and believes Mr. Moore’s film… could alienate many.”

Media Matters for America.

blackSpot sneaker. From Kalle Lasn.

Looks interesting, but I’m starting to have big problems with undeterrable hype-machine Lasn. First of all, the whole thing is no less of a media-driven consumer-fuck than anything that Nike ever does. He says they’re “going after Phil Knight” and Nike – but they’re doing it with a Converse knock-off. Clever or not, and whether produced by a union shop or not, it’s still media-focused consumer misdirection. They also trumpet their judo of using a Nike-like symbol against them – but again it’s hype. One ad – even a full-page ad – in the Times is not a media juggernaut or a “kick-ass PR campaign.”