Since I got the Season 3 DVD set of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", I will sum up this article on the state of the music biz from Toronto's Eye Weekly by quoting Vamp Willow: "Bored Now".

While RIAA and CRIA blame those pesky kids like Tom Swift and his Infomatic Electronic SuperExpressway for declining sales, this article blames lousy music and retailers who don't give a rat's ass.

Larry LeBlanc, Canadian Editor of Billboard magazine, argues that the issue is infinitely more complex, citing as huge problems the early '90s phase-out of inexpensive singles (a crucial entry point for prepubescent music lovers with little more than pocket change) and the comparative neglect of boomer consumers, who may still want to buy new music but think that nothing new exists for them.

"We ran smack into kids downloading at the same time that the older audience finally said, 'You know, I've got enough CDs in my house, I've replaced all my favourite albums,'" says LeBlanc. "That was the Big Bang of the industry three years ago, the colliding of those two.

"Yes, it's downloading; yes, it's the direction of pop music in terms of moving from artists with career longevity to quick-fix musics. And let me ask you a question: is there anything more boring than a mainstream record store?"

Over the holidays, there were fliers for Futureshop and Best Buy with DVDs, XBox, Playstation, and oh, yeah some CDs. Y'know if I was a kid, and I got the soundtrack album to Spiderman instead of the DVD or Game, I'd be pretty disappointed.