Jeff Leeds wrote an article for the NYT about the current state of the recording industry, focusing on the majors.
Music Labels – EMI - New York Times
Among the insightful comments:

For the companies that choose to plow ahead, the question is how to weather the worsening storm. One answer: diversify into businesses that do not rely directly on CD sales or downloads. The biggest one is music publishing, which represents songwriters (who may or may not also be performers) and earns money when their songs are used in TV commercials, video games or other media.

Also, Leeds quotes a NPD analysis which attributes 37 percent of all music consumption to off-line CD-ripping, more than file-sharing.
The general tone of the piece is quite compatible with the idea that the majors themselves need to wake up to a new reality.<—9d2fc4cbec30ed4b4b0847346892d069—>

The third and final part of a series on music, the Internet, and cultural diversity.
Agence de presse étudiante mondiale – La diversité culturelle au Nord et au Sud : deux poids, deux mesures
Not that much new material and it could use some examples of alternative business models used by musicians in Brazil and elsewhere. Nonetheless, it’s fun to see student journalists take on the issue of globalisation through music.<—423d72d869336a09b5c1a4efa3ff7a98—>

The Canada Council for the Arts is soliciting feedback on its strategic plan. Those of us with Canadian connections have a vested interest in what the Canada Council will become.
They do seem to welcome broad feedback even though the main consultation method is through an online survey.
Strategic plan consultation – Canada Council for the Arts

Ok, Gabriel is not spearheading this, necessarily, but he’s a founder investor.
We7 is an ad supported music downloading system using the
MediaGraft Technology platform. They seem to have big plans and are asking for suggestions.
The concept is simple: tracks start with 10-second advertisement, automatically customised to the downloader’s profile. After a month, tracks are available without ads.
What makes this service different from others (like Ruckus and SpiralFrog, for instance) is that the tracks are available as plain MP3 files, not DRM-heavy, proprietary files. This makes it easier to handle the files.

At this point, the project hasn’t really been launched but the main ideas are there.

Personally, I would say that the site is low on features. The tracks themselves are interesting but the “value proposition” of downloading tracks for free on such a relatively simple site may push people toward sites which focus on music communities. Which might be a good thing for independent music.<—75080996242ad97bb6fd653e29121fdd—>