For a long time, it has been getting harder to achieve the American dream. While average income for a full-time working male, adjusted for inflation, has remained pretty constant since 1973, the top 1% of US earners has gained ground decade after decade.

The objective economic data supporting those facts...

There are those who disagree, but I think Spotify has a real shot at winning the music game in both the US and Europe -- if not beyond.

Spotify makes almost all the music in the world available to you on-demand, 24x7. That's just going to beat any cloud...

I live about four blocks from Ground Zero, and when I heard bin Laden had been killed by U.S. forces, I knew the celebration was something I didn't want to miss. I knew a crowd would be forming so I grabbed my iPhone, my iPad and hit the street. What...

Look back on the past few years of your life and take stock of how much music radio listening you do. Is it as much as it used to be? Chances are you've phased music radio out of your life and you haven't missed it too much. I know that's...

"The music industry is a cruel and shallow money trench. A long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - Hunter S. Thompson (misquoted)

That quote is attributed to the late Hunter S. Thompson, a music journalist from...

Spanish language music in the US has typically been heavily influenced by Latin American beats, tropical grooves and sounds from south of the border. That's natural since this country's Latin heritage comes from those regions.

However, I've noticed a minor trend in Spanish language music becoming more influenced by American...

Anything that's worth achieving typically isn't easy. The value of a lofty goal comes from the fact that not everyone has the combination of skill and drive to accomplish it. The road is tough, lonely and those who love you and support you can also have their doubts about your...

After last night's occurrence when Congressman Joe Wilson heckled President Obama by yelling "You lie!" during Obama's address to a joint session of Congress, Wilson's official website was overrun with traffic. The site has been taken down to prevent those of us who would have liked to send him a...

Sometimes it takes a couple listens for a song to sink in; to grow on you. Then a there are songs you just can't get out of your head after one listen. Germans call that kind of song an ear worm because it bores into your brain and begs another...

I started a song-a-day blog a couple weeks ago where each day I post a song I like. I either find these mostly-obscure songs during the course of my day job or artists submit them to me for me to consider. The blog was chugging along...

All last year and early this year there was a lot of anticipation in the neighborhood about the High Line, a new elevated park in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan's West Village. Personally, I didn't realize what a big deal this was for everyone but since it opened we've probably...

I'm a sucker for a good love song but these days you don't often come across love songs that strike the right balance. They're either clichés of themselves, cross the frontier into corny or they're more about sex appeal and desire than about heartfelt, honest, old-fashioned yet never-out-of-style love.

On...

Jon Stewart exposes Fox News for their hypocrisy, their double standards and their casual relationship with the facts.

If you grew up during the cold war like I did, you probably remember being told how lucky we were to not live in the Soviet Union because their media was biased...

Erik Qualman has been doing his homework on the social media phenomenon that has been spreading faster than (insert your own tasteless swine flu metaphor here).

His new book called Socialnomics comes out later this month. I think you'll be hearing a lot about it in the days to...

I'm cheap. I'm like Clark Howard. When I get money hey I feel empowered. - Al Lorden (The Cheap Song)

Scroll down to hear the song

This weekly song review I've started doesn't exactly do for a songwriter what Oprah's book club does for an author but let's...

Give it up to your teasing babe. Lead me astray. Never knew that love could ever feel this way - Simon Fagan (Never Really Cried)

scroll down to hear the song

Some estimates suggest that there are more than a million songs uploaded to the Internet each year by independent...

"Her tears are like diamonds on the floor and her diamonds bring me down" - Rob Thomas (Her Diamonds)

Today is the official release date of three time Grammy-award winning artist Rob Thomas' new single called Her Diamonds. It's the first single from his upcoming album entitled Cradlesong which hits...

Click here to read Part I

"It's not show friends. It's show business. " - Bob Sugar (Jay Moore): Jerry McGuire (1996)

What will happen to the major labels?

The labels were only ever going to survive as long as they remained the powerful gatekeepers between the artists and...

"In the race to adopt new technologies, the music industry historically has finished just ahead of the Amish." - Stan Cornyn, former Warner Music Group executive

What is happening to the music industry?

In short, the traditional music industry has been beaten, battered and completely transformed by a perfect storm...

Have you seen the new ad the DNC is going to run against McCain? Apparently the Democrats are calling McCain out and they may be doing it today in order to take advantage of network and cable news coverage of the Pennsylvania Primary. It doesn't sound like the DNC has...