June Rewind

Thursday, June 24, marked the first victory for the mass movement against deregulation in the communications industries, and two of the good members of the Federal Communications Commission happened to be in Portland to talk about it. "The Future of Media" was the subject of a town hall meeting hosted by FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps. More than 400 concerned citizens attended the event held only hours after the Third Circuit Court of Appeals struck down FCC rules concerning cross-ownership of broadcast stations and newspapers in a single market.

"They've been embarrassed and they've been set back," said Copps. "That is a reason for celebration." Both of the commissioners presiding at the Portland meeting had voted against the rule in June 2003. Along with panelists and some of the hundreds in attendance, the commissioners used battlefield rhetoric to discuss the current state of media affairs. Clear Channel representative Mary Lou Gunn failed to appear, reportedly "stuck in the Los Angeles airport," although the mention of her corporation, which owns more than 1,200 commercial radio stations in the United States, drew hisses from the near-capacity crowd. To read the full court ruling, go to www.freepress.net/rules. (Richard Shirk)

The Beastie Boys The June 15 release of the Boys' latest, To the 5 Boroughs, inspired some interesting behavior amongst music journalists, both good and bad. At Slate.com, WW contributor Douglas Wolk managed a thorough review of the album in the rhyme scheme made famous by the three Brooklynites ("Rhymer's Delight," slate.msn.com/id/2102704). Writes Wolk, "Their core competency's the dumb party rhyme. They're back trading zingers (and it's about time)--doing the 'Good Times' scratch and the 'Rock Box' pogo in a wraparound cover with an FBI logo." Nice. In a less whimsical episode, Pitchfork Media retracted a review of the album written by contributor Brent DiCrescenzo. The review, the last piece DiCrescenzo was to write for the Web magazine, took time between a review of the album and mountains of irritatingly self-referential asides to lambaste Steve Martin, head of Nasty Little Man, the Beastie Boys' publicity firm. Within a couple of days, visitors to www.pitchforkmedia.com were treated to an apology: "Pitchfork has since determined that a number of DiCrescenzo's assertions were false, based on corroborated statements from the two parties he claimed were participating in the chain of events referred to in the review." The letter went on to list a series of events depicted in the review that never occurred. While DiCrescenzo's attempt to illustrate the difficulties music journalists have in gaining access to artists is appreciated, his deceit is not. On behalf of music critics everywhere, thanks for another chip from our credibility, dickwad. See the original article at www.beastieboys.com/ bbs/showthread.php?t=21070. View the retraction at www.cmj.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/021235.html.

(Mark Baumgarten)

Warner Brothers Records Setting the stage for the next act of the record industry's "The Sky is Falling" scenario, Warner Brothers Records announced this month that it will be cutting half of its 170-artist roster. According to the generally credible music site Pitchfork Media (I know, I know, you don't trust them anymore--but read on) Warner, one of five major labels, is releasing half its roster into the ranks of indie-dom as a cost-cutting measure. The great iron wall surrounding Warner headquarters has prevented us from confirming the reports, but, according to our online media friends, Stereolab has been dropped. Other artists rumored to be on the cutting block include Green Day, Depeche Mode, New Order, Jewel, Built to Spill, the Donnas, Junior Senior, the Stills and, of course, Dream Theater. But if Pitchfork is lying to us again, I will personally kick editor-in-chief Ryan Schreiber's ass. (MB)

Lollapalooza 2004 Those who thought Morrissey would be the most depressing part of this year's much-heralded Lollapalooza tour were wrong. Festival organizers announced in late June that the entire 16-date festival has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales. The festival was set to kick off July 14 and 15 at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Wash. Apparently the lineup, including Morrissey, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, the Pixies and almost 30 other top indie bands, didn't excite ticket buyers as much as it did music journalists. Festival father and former Jane's Addiction leadman Perry Farrell presumably wept large, salty tears as he wrote a reluctant note to fans and bands: "Our plight is a true indication of the general health of the touring industry and it is across musical genres." This also marks the first time the words "empathize" and "Perry Farrell" can rightfully appear in the same sentence. (MB)

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