The End of "Greatest Hits" As We Know It?

The NY Times ponders the impact of digital downloads on the music industry's cash cow... the Greatest Hits CD..

Their popularity indicates that fans are flocking to online services like iTunes at least in part to pluck out celebrated oldies, not to mention the occasional 90's alternative memento (Oasis's "Wonderwall" has sold more than 251,000 copies so far) or 80's strip-club staple (Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" has surpassed 216,000). All of this comes at a time when fans enjoy a wealth of new choices in how to buy and listen to music.

But the popularity of such songs raises a troubling issue for the music business, which relies in part on the huge profits generated by greatest-hits collections, perennially selling classic albums and the continual repackaging of old material. The question: What if fans who might have paid for a full album of "the very best" of an established act instead choose to pay substantially less and simply buy the very, very best song?

The Edge Makes His Case for New Orleans

The Edge talks about Music Rising, his effort to assist New Orleans musicians...

"When I heard about the hurricane, the devastation of the city and the area, I pretty soon started thinking about the musicians, started to think about the cultural loss, not just to New Orleans, not just to America, but really to the world," he told the Associated Press.

Does that mean he's planning to follow band-mate Bono's worldwide activist footsteps? Not likely, he responds.

"Bono is kind of a one-off character in music. His skills as a communicator are amazing, and his powers of persuasion are equally amazing," he said, smiling. "I would never think of trying to take on quite that level of commitment."

The Money Shot: Bono Goes to Washington

Bono wants the U.S. to step up...

Speaking to President Bush and members of Congress at the National Prayer Breakfast, the U2 front man said it's unjust to keep poor people from selling their goods while singing the virtues of the free market, to hold children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents and to withhold medicines that would save lives.

"God will not accept that," he said. "Mine won't. Will yours?"

Cheap Thrills 2.1.06

Here's a stack of MP3's to start the month off right. Big chunks of Whiskeytown, New P-rnographers and Nirvana...

• Tom Vek - The Lower The Sun/Nothing But Green Lights/If I Had Changed My Mind (all live on KEXP)
• Pixies - Is She Weird?/Dig For Fire/Blown Away
• Weezer - Velouria
• Devendra Banhart - At The Hop
• Okkervil River - Black
• Whiskeytown - Further Down The Road/Believe/Ten Seconds Til The End of the World/Rain Won't Help You When It's Over/Ticket Time/Hipshake/San Antonio/ All You Can Feel/New York Angel/Only To Lose/Dreams
• Husker Du - Blah Blah Blah/In a Free Land/M.I.C.
• Magnolia Electric Co. - Leave The City/The Dark Don't Hide It
• A.C. Newman - Come Crash
• Art Brut - Formed A Band/Emily Kane/Good Weekend
• A.C. Newman - Drink To Me Babe Then
• Damien Rice - Cheers Darlin' (Live)
• Elliott Smith - Last Call (Live)
• Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - The Rescue Blues/Why Do They Leave?/She Wants To Play Hearts/ When The Stars Go Blue/Bird Song
• New Pornographers - Twin Cinema/Use It/The Bleeding Heart Show/Jackie Dressed In Cobras/The Bones of an Idol/Spanish Techno/Streets of Fire (all live)
• Soul Coughing - Monster Man
• R.E.M. - Me In Honey
• Beck - Ramshackle
• Neko Case - I Wish I Was The Moon
• Rilo Kiley - With Arms Outstretched
• Jenny Lewis - You Are What You Love
• Belle & Sebastian - Funny Little Frog
• Nirvana - Serve The Servants/Heart Shaped Box/Rape Me/Dumb/Very Ape/Pennyroyal Tea/Radio Friendly Shifter Unit/Tourette's

Thanks to today's contributing bloggers. Please support their blogs! To hear these artists and more, click here.

Disclaimer: These links are intended to help promote artists that Musical Justice plays. In the event that you sample an artist here and like 'em, please support those acts by buying legal copies of their music and going to see their live appearances. None of the MP3 are actually provided or hosted by us. We don't guarantee their quality and whenever you download things, you are assuming the risk that you might download viruses, spyware or other nasties. In the event that you are one of the artists listed above and you would like us to remove any links, please contact us and we will do so ASAP.

The Money Shot: Lisa Loeb in a Thong

Finally! A real "money shot"...

Video from her new reality show #1 Single.

Go ahead... you know you want to look.