I actually think a two-hour finale would've done this show some good; maybe Tyra & co. would have been forced to manufacture some drama, a few worthwhile challenges, or something. Instead they blow through a couple tasks with the two most ingratiating cuecarders on the show. "Battle of the accents" indeed... who thought a Cover Girl was a good idea for two ESLers? Those poor kids.

I still can't believe a sack of angles like Jaslene is considered model potential. I thought the industry was getting past this, but damn near every judge kept saying how hot she was, week in and week out. Then again, I only watched the last four weeks of the show... I'm probably a bit off the target demographic.

I actually thought it was kind of funny, in a Rappin' Karl Rove sort of way. Maybe, just maybe, there was a glimmer of recognition that this hard-and-fast rule is a tad unreasonable. Anyway, it made for a great soundbite.

Imagine dueling stealth campaigns... Michael Bloomberg's self-financed run vs. Al Gore's DVD-sales-goosed campaign. The media may not have to follow another candidate ever again...

The RIAA has abandoned sales as an income source! Genius! So now it puts the squeeze on radio stations, which will likely have the effect of weeding out smaller concerns in favor of the megalith broadcasters. You know, the ones that already play the same 12 songs every hour - the songs generally banged out by big-money producers with vanity labels in conjunction with shiny pop stars. What a neat way to speed up obsolescence!

Great Dylan clip, by the way.

Cleveland doesn't want to admit it, but this series is much, much less about King James' ability to carry a team than about the rest of his team being complete horsecrap. Yeah, Hamilton should've been whistled, but did you see Larry Hughes gank on that gimme immediately after? Sasha's travel was similarly egregious. And if Varejao didn't have the Sideshow Bob do, he'd be just another Matt Barnes: a hustler who can step up but not help take the scoring heat.

Yes, the Pistons have great D, but hardly anyone thinks they'll challenge the Spurs, because the Spurs have surrounded Tim Duncan with talented role players. Not even '92 Jordan could carry Drew Gooden and a washed-up Zydrunas Ilgauskas to a championship. The Cavs' best isn't good enough, Bron-Bron's out of here, and everyone knows it. How hard would it have been to find a poor man's Pippen for LeBron?

You make a salient point, but the RIAA's actions seem like "too little, too late". Rep. Berman said it in the article: there are other, effective ways to promote music than the radio. My prediction is that radio will take fewer chances on newer acts, because the additional payments toward royalties create a thinner margin for error. And as much as Mary Wilson says "at least it's a start" to begin paying long-established artists, I think she knows it's a piss-poor start. The stations that would play the Supremes orbit the earth now; Jack FM and Bob FM are chasing away the artists most in need of a little payback.

And I'm a little suspicious of the RIAA's motives... they represent labels and distributors - it's in their name - so how much of this new revenue stream is really going to Percy Sledge (or Jonatha Brooke), and how much is going to prop up crumbling labels with an infusion of quick cash?

It makes me sound even more like a tool.

In most cases, unless the artist owns the master recordings, any income they receive from said recordings is based on a percentage of income that the label derives from those recordings.

This is true, but as we know, the major-label artist is usually contracted to pay off large advances and expenses first. Most hit singles don't pay off for years, if at all. Maybe it is time performance royalties in America mirror the practices of Europe etc., but this small solution doesn't really address the problems of a broken industry. The labels have been taking the lion's share since wax cylinders. The RIAA is painting a long-overdue cash grab as welfare, which is disingeuous.

Radio stopped taking those chances ages ago.

Granted, but in the last 5-7 years, the newer methods of getting songs noticed/bought/downloaded & bought are starting to have an impact on radio airplay, from Wilco to "High School Musical". Give radio an excuse to keep playing it safe and whatever dents we've seen will disappear in an instant. Which is fine, honestly... the current radio & retail model is dying on a corporate level. Let it happen. The RIAA can dress this up on behalf of its artistic constituents (who really could benefit more from a piece of their masters than the odd check from Bob FM... but that would affect the rest of the RIAA). You are right, I should be thankful that the Supremes can get anything more from broadcasters. But if big labels want to thrive, this is a wobbly first step.

That's perfect, man. Nailed it. Someone wanna re-introduce us to 3 Doors Down when the new joint drops?

The McCartney/Bennington/Carter collab gave me hives the first time I saw it, but once I pretended it were a Brit awards show it made a lot more sense.