WIRED has just finished a short but informative three-part series on the travails of the increasingly centralized broadcast radio business, especially the trials and tribulations created by Clear Channel's rapid growth (Part 1: Clear-Cutting the Radio Forest; Part 2: 'Good Mornin' (Your Town Here)'; Part 3: Murky Water for Clear Channel). Salon (annoying interstitials, unless subscribed) takes a look at recent management changes at Clear Channel and the problems they may be facing (Radio's titan hits the skids). The real problem, of course, is our antiquated broadcast regulations. Broadcast should be common carrier, similar to telecommunications (that is, if we don't immediately move toward spread spectrum).
Salon also has an article on how the battle between the record labels and "independent promoters" is heating up (The empire strikes back). Unfortunately, Hollywood's efforts here are likely to fail, just as they failed in the early 1980s. The problem is that Hollywood itself has favored increasing centralization of marketing and distribution channels for their product. Why? Because Hollywood is in the business of marketing and distribution. Unfortunately, Hollywood doesn't control this distribution channel and, as a result, has been getting squeezed. The real solution, which Hollywood isn't interested in, is to break up the growing broadcast radio oligopoly through spread spectrum and common carrier. However, this would create independent radio, which Hollywood is busy trying to destroy on the Internet (see, Doc Searls' article in Linux Journal Hollywood Steps Up Its Assault on the Net While Webcasting Death March Claims KPIG). Seems like Hollywood is hoist on its own petard.