[Air-l] Sony wakes up ??

[Hugemusic]

Good to see one of the major record companies has finally found <a 
href="http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/040207bmguk">a good use for 
the web</a>. Shame it's not one that works to the advantage of everybody 
else ...

But it makes perfect sense to them and doesn't hurt anyone in the 
independent scene. Basically, they're getting better data for their A&R 
efforts. They set up a pet blog system, and artists can go to the trouble of 
putting themselves before the eyes of the companies. The artists do all the 
work except for the public-feedback bit, which is done by the blogosphere. 
They can even try a bit of development with artists they're interested in.

They get a great assessment of the artist's work and attitude, and can use 
the music blogosphere to point out which ones have genuine traction rather 
than flash-in-the pan appeal ... they can take their time to see how 
sustainable the artists' work ethic is ... up to a point.

Brilliant! Except that it still puts the load on the artists and their 
supporters to do the legwork and offers nothing to them in return ... still, 
it's a perfect application of the web's benefits.

What do others make of it??

Chers,
Hughie