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> The reason music is dead is very simple. There is no innovation.

You are so mistaken due to a limited listening vocabulary. There's innovative music out there but for the most part you won't find it on the major labels. You have to dig for it, but it's out there, and thus the music is not dead. It's alive and well and in many forms-- new forms, old forms made anew.

Check out the records coming out from labels like Thrilljockey (Tortoise, Mouse on Mars, The Sea and Cake), Strange Attractors (Yume Bitsu, SubArachnoid Space, Kinksi, Landing, Surface of Eceyon), Constellation Records (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Do Make Say Think) and Elephant 6 and Cloud Recordings (Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, Of Montreal, Neutral Milk Hotel) -- they've been doing something different with the music in the last few years.

The open horizons continue to be in music that could be classified as psychedelic, anything else ends up just being more of the same. The new musical horizons are best found at the point where music can make our brains do different things than we are used to.

If you can't find music with innovation and quality then you simply aren't looking hard enough.

"music nowadays completely SUCKS!!" is your opinion which you definitely have the right to say.

i must say though, that i find the statement wrong and seems to come from someone that fell out of the loop and doesn't "understand" the kids and their music. i am by no means a youngster and i can't say that i have watched mtv or listened to clear channel radio in years. there are many great artists out there and taking the DIY route that make compelling and innovative music. many can be found on such independent labels as:
matador records
desoto records
thrill jockey records
kill rock stars
dischord records

just to name a few, there are many many others. some places to buy independent music and distributors of:
parasol records
southern records
insound

A boycott wouldn't do much because almost no one would bother with it. Instead, try having a day or a week of protests - picketing outside theaters, chain record stores (Best Buy, Tower, Virgin, HMV, et al). That would be great because it's actually somewhat realistic and unlike simply not buying things, it sends a clear a direct message to the companies that people are pissed off at them, while it also educates consumers who don't know any better.

Of course you could always try buying indie music as well, though some have major label distributors, you can always find others.

What about independent labels? Check out Touch and Go or Thrill Jockey.

The sad thing is that the radio stations don't even ASK the public about what they like! I used to work for a small radio station and there was this interesting conversation I had to have with major labels every week, it went kinda like this:
Major Label(ML): I've noticed our band is not in your (billboard)top ten.
Program Manager(PM): yup, people haven't requested it (because it sucks).
ML: what would it take to get the band into the top ten?
PM: (now here is where I fill in my 'wish' card) I would need to do some promotions, how about a stack of CDs T-shirts and a signed item or backstage passes.
*A bit of dickering, later*
ML: OK well send that stuff out to you and we HOPE that this'll get us into the top ten.

This conversation would then occur again to try and get their bands closer to number one - that's when the anty gets upped. You can then ask for interviews, and probably other interesting stuff - and get it. Don't think that all of this stuff is handed directly to the listeners...most are divied up by the radio station owners and the sloppy seconds are relagated to promotions.

I quiver to think of what the offerings are to larger (real) radio stations! It's sad when thinking that labels who put out some really good product *cough* Thrilljockey, Touch and Go *cough* can't compete.

So, the moral of the story is that sometimes 'payola' is not money, but 'promotional goods'.
*Now that I've divulged this sensitive information , this may be the last time you hear from me before my door gets busted down.

Hell yea!
I'd pay for a Thrill Jockey only napster.

Even though I've been leeching (and serving) off of napster for months, I don't recall d/ling any major label artist. I'm sure there are some, but nothing that I listen to enough to bother about...

More to the point why are CD's from labels like Discord, K Records, Kill Rock Stars, Thrill Jockey, and Touch and Go so much cheaper???

In part because the people working at these labels - from the owners on down - make a lot less money and work a lot more hours. And somehow they still manage to give their artists better contracts (usually ~50% of profits). Small is beautiful - support your local record store, & support small labels. Of course when it comes down to it most Napster fans really just want their corporate crap music by numbers...

Speaking of specific labels, if anyone's concerned:

• Warp Records: Home of Aphex Twin, Autechre, Plaid etc. Unfortunately most of their major acts (the first two of the above list) are released in US by Nothing, which is RIAA, but most other stuff is released by Matador, which is not.
• Matador: Home of pavement, sleator kinney and others.
• Thrill Jockey: Home of Mouse on Mars US Releases, Oval, Tortoise, Sam Prekop etc.
• Others: jetset, road cone, kranky (GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR! = gnosis), Drag City ad infinitum.

There are so many great bands out there that are no where near the RIAA in any genre you can think of but glossy crappy pop, and I for one don't and won't miss that.

I'm a big fan of thrill jockey, they have titles by bands such as Tortoise, Trans Am, Isotope 217, the Sea and Cake, etc. It's a small Chicago label that to the best of my knowledge has no affiliation with the RIAA.