From Bookforum, Andy Battaglia reviews Cracked Media: The Sound of Malfunction by Caleb Kelly; and James Gavin reviews Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music by Greg Milner. Why the music cassette has never died: Central to the lingering affection that people still have for tapes is the fact that you can compile them yourself. From PopMatters, Calum Marsh reconsiders the revival of cassette tape culture; and the needle and the damage done: The independent record store lives another day, but how long can the vinyl lifeline continue to keep them afloat? (and more on the vinyl spin cycle). Like some lumbering Frankenstein monster, the recording industry rose from the dead this summer, thanks to the very technology that’s credited with killing it. An essay on music scrobbling as a panopticism of taste. Your father’s FM radio can close up shop, as far as Steve Brachman’s concerned — the music you want is at your fingertips, and you hear it the way you like it, on your computer. Radio Your Way: Internet powerhouse Pandora may just save the music industry. By breaking music down into its component parts, Pandora Internet radio tries to figure out what kind of music you — not your social group, heroes or aspirational self — really like. Is the wired generation revolutionizing or undermining music? From BBC Magazine, is the internet stifling new music?: The internet may have been a miracle for music fans, Duran Duran star John Taylor says, but instant access to decades of recordings and artists' inner thoughts is not all good (and a response).
