“Even if the money-grubbing isn’t new, the manner in which it’s grubbed is. And no matter who’s doing it, the effect is the same: Music is devalued.” NY Mag on how spammers, superstars, and tech giants gamed the music industry. (Think of what SEO did for content, but for songs…)

+ The Guardian: How gentrification threatens America’s music cities.

+ Can we get kids and other beginners hooked on instruments in the age of iPads? No one has more incentive to get it done that companies like Fender. Here’s how they’re trying to reinvent guitar lessons for the age of distractions. (They start off with you getting attacked by a crowd of sex-starved groupies. You can learn to play later.)