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The Billboard Top 100 has always been shit. Try elsewhere if you want stuff that came out in 2006 that didn't suck

That idea that music has been going downhill is just.. well... sad really. Music has always been fantastic, and it always will be, you've just - like always - got know where to look.

Half the people that buy vinyl don't even listen to them.

Kickstarter is a great idea, but I think it will soon become difficult to fund projects due to lack of quality control. I think there will be too many projects that get funded but fail to deliver (like this one), people will become wary about what they fund, and eventually it will be almost as difficult to get a Kickstarter funded as it is to just find an investor.

I think this DEVO App Kickstarter is a good illustration of the problem. As an iOS programmer and I can tell you that this project will almost certainly end in disappointment. He basically wants $15k to redo the graphic assets of his failed colorforms-like app, but I think it takes an expert to see this through the clever sales pitch.

The vast majority of people do want to pay $5/month to be told what music they should claim to like. They're not looking for good music, they're looking for what opinions they should have in order to fit in with their peers.

Heh. I don't even need to pay $5 to read pitchfork.

Have you tried:
http://pitchfork.com/

they post up new indie tracks all the time. I found J.J. and Fever Ray through them. Both great bands making great music.

In relation to this, it is amazing to me how many sites are able to set the tone for the conversation without having a forum/comment section on their own site.

Pitchfork Media has some of the most controversial music reviews. I still don't think you can leave a comment directly on their pages. Compare that to NME, where the first review I opened had a comment section.

From the political isle: Instapundit Glenn Reynolds and Matt Drudge's Druge Report. These two pages set the tone for many (not all) conversations in the conservative blogosphere, yet no direct comment section. Same for the conservative magazine National Review. I'm wearing my political beliefs on my sleeve here. I invite someone to post a liberal site sans comments, I can't think of one on the top of my head.

The effect of removing a comment section forces the reader to search out if someone has a counterpoint to your opinion, which while it may not be terribly difficult via google, is something people simply are not accustomed to doing. This has two effects. It protects your reputation, since it is possible that someone reading your page would never know an opposing opinion. As an extension of that, since your reputation is far cleaner than a page with potential detracting comments, your message is securely delivered - whether it is that pitchfork thinks band x is good and they are also sponsoring a music festival featuring band x that you should purchase tickets for (no direct conflict of interest there!), or that you think policy y position is a good one and that you have friends that would benefit if policy y is advanced (Larry Kudlow at NRO here).

It may not necessarily be a mark of cowardice to not have direct comments on your site, but the inclusion of it is definitely a mark of bravery.