According to a study by the UK royalties agency most music didn't sell a single copy in 2008. But I’d say figures are more likely to be accurate for these items, the 13 million tracks offered for sale on the internet, rather than the notoriously prone to under-reporting LP/CD sales. So much for the long tail. (guardian.co.uk)

Factory Communications UK Discography – Part 4 A fascinating set of pages listing all the FAC releases in the UK. Yet another work of lunatic scholarship for which the web is ideal.

O-Dub introduces the track, and then says EXACTLY what I said to myself when I first heard this song in 1990 “This song is epic and a definite face-melter. How have I never heard this before? I feel so unworthy of its greatness. ” Soul Sides: Lorraine Ellison: The Song That Rocked

See if you can figure what percentage of these: NPR Listeners Pick The Year’s Best Music : NPR Music CDs will be on our own PoOPlist 2008 (my bet is 75 to 80%). Depressing? Affirming? Discuss…

YouTube – Holy Ghost VS Andy C & MC GQ – Baptazia NYE 2007 – part 3 Turn it up loud if you can. BTW, YouTube user “airloaf”, who made this one, has a bunch of other cool ones.

Techdirt: Why A Music Tax Is A Bad Idea Just as innovative businesses and musicians are working out how to make this digital music thing work, Warner Brothers wants to reward the failed business model…

Mens 2XL for me please…

Full list of Grammy nominations. Go Diplo!!!!!!!!!!!! Also listed are too many Coldplay items. Here’s a little experiment; you’re a music fan, how many of these records do you own? GRAMMY.com

Energy Flash Simon Reynolds on “golden age” pirate radio tapes from London rave/’ardcore scene. Small list of places to download tapes.

A touching piece from Edwyn Collins, post-stroke. My feathered friends (Guardian UK) “A stroke left musician Edwyn Collins unable to walk, read or write. Three years on, he’s back with his band. And it’s all thanks to these birds.”

FactMagazine – 20 best: Jungle k-punk with a nice, dense, chewy look at 1992 – 1996

Costs only $800 but at least the shipping is free. (Bloomingdales) But what exactly do they mean by “includes two masters”?

Bummer

When Martin Luther King was assassinated 40 years ago, only one US city was spared the riots that followed. Ed Vulliamy tells the extraordinary story of a James Brown gig that changed history. (Observer UK)

Funny story. At record show in Boston last week. It’s being held by a particular promoter in conjunction with his regular comic book show. A regular NYC customer comes up to me and says “Did you you ever think that the record show guys would NOT be the geekiest people in the house…?” Nice one! I swear, one of the guys had a Dalek tattoo! (Which must be akin to having a yellow peel-off banana tattoo or something)