An ordinance currently making its way through the city council circuit could potentially destroy the wonderful way music is heard here in Chicago.

The so called “Event Promoters” ordinance looks to require any event promoter to have a license with the city of Chicago and liability insurance of up to $300,000 for starters. The short of it is that the way this is worded it would require small, new, or out of town bands that want to promote their music and put on their own show to apply for the very expensive license to put on an event/show.

A new effort is afoot to stop the ordinance in its tracks, by getting digital signatures on a petition before the May 14th date ( thats a few days away now ). You can sign the petition here

You can read more about the ordinance:
@ the Jim DeRogatis - Chicago Sun Times Blog

The Bees are a UK band, also known in the U.S. as A Band of Bees (for reasons which I have not yet found…). With 2007’s Octopus, they released the most upbeat, cohesive collection of tunes I’ve heard in a while. It’s downright pleasant. And though it expresses itself in a rich retro style, it also manages to be very refreshing. Basically, I can’t stop playing it. (Note: A few years ago, I would have been able to describe it as “a cd that will have a perpetual slot in the cd player for quite some time.” Now, in the age of mp3s and shuffling, I guess I’d have to call it “an album I actually listen to straight through - no shuffling - over and over again. So I guess I’d have to say that’s a pretty nice compliment.)

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Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails have released a new album for free to their fans. only days after releasing their single, which he gave out almost immediately after finalizing the mix. It seems like Trent is trying to make a statement to the record labels, that an artist can create and be successful through the internet, and in doing so maybe he, along with Radiohead and other artists following in their footsteps, will be changing the way the medium is distributed and promoted.

Nine Inch Nails has 20 plus years in the industry, and show no signs of ever slowing down, creating music that different generations since their inception have loved and rocked out to. As one of the legion of fans I don’t know if I can be completely objective but I will try.
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