Okay, I got e-mail wondering if Cliff Burnstein was drinking some hootch,
or…

If you don’t know what Ethel is, you’re still listening to FM radio.

Please read today’s "New York Times" on Mark Cuban and simultaneous delivery
of movies to homes and theatres.  Oh, he’s talking about a DVD option, but
hate to clue you in, the disc is dead.  While Hollywood is debating DRM standards
for HD discs, the customer has moved on.  And it’s not only movies, it’s
radio too.

FM radio just isn’t hip.  There, I said it.  It doesn’t deliver the radio
EXPERIENCE!  FM radio delivers commercials, plain and simple.  FM’s customer base is CORPORATIONS, ADVERTISERS, not PEOPLE!  Radio, when done right, is a living, breathing thing.  It’s not something to divert your attention on a boring drive, not something to kill time, it’s something you LIVE FOR!  My car was in the shop for ten days and I felt withdrawal pangs as serious as the loss of a
love.  Back in the 80s people might have WANTED their MTV, but they NEED their XM.  Because out of the speakers comes a whole WORLD!

Ethel is XM’s modern rock channel.  Or maybe you call it alternative rock. 
If it happened before Nirvana, it’s on Fred, channel 44, if it happened
thereafter, it’s on Ethel, channel 47.

Oh, it might also be on Lucy, channel 54, where they play ALL the greatest
hits of alternative rock.  And could even be on XMU, channel 43, which is where
the TRUE hipsters hang out, where the music is BORN!  But if you want to be
turned on to the best in modern rock today, just tune in Ethel.  THAT’S what
Cliff Burnstein is addicted to.  THAT’S where he hears about all the new bands.

Then again, he does have Christine print out the reviews of all the highest
rated acts on pitchformedia.com.  Oops, did I give away a secret??

The old music business is dead.  People like Clive Davis and Andy Lack just
don’t know it yet.  Seeing that the old system still has some life in it, they
think it’s going to exist FOREVER!  But just like e-mail killed fax machines,
the old system’s gonna die OVERNIGHT!  Oh, admit it, you thought computers
were for nerds, but when you heard about this folder on AOL ten years ago
entitled "Insider Tips" (the predecessor of the Velvet Rope), you went to CompUSA, bought a machine and signed up for AOL just to PLAY!

And you haven’t looked back.

You’ve given up your AOL address.

You surf the Web as if you were doing it your whole life.

If you’re ripping CDs, if you’re still SENDING people CDs, then you’re so
2001.  Now it’s about MP3s.  You e-mail them, you send them as IM attachments,
the disc is IRRELEVANT!  Adding bonus features to the CD is like throwing a
saddle in with every horse.  It’s shining up the past and ignoring the FUTURE!