How desparate is the recording industry? Check out the current poll question on the Grammy site:

My New Year’s resolution

• Pay for my downloads
• Investigate the new online music services
• Watch the Michael Jackson trial
• More music, less Grand Theft Auto

The obvious hope of the industry is that you’ll only consider these options, that even on a subliminal level you won’t consider a resolution to download MORE unlicensed music, that you’ll make a resolution to IGNORE the online music services, and that you’ll turn off the celebraty culture by IGNORING Michael Jackson, and that you’ll do any number of other things than BUY their crappy schlock.

My new year’s resolution: Do my fair share to DESTROY the music industry as we now know it. And I don’t need to use peer-to-peer services or illegally copy discs to do it. All I need is to concentrate my purchasing power on the better music of yesteryear (which can be bought used at incredible prices, with no profit for the record labels), and the better music of small-label and independent artists. This will keep most (if not all) of my money out of the hands of the greedy bastards at BMG, Sony, Venvidi and the like. I also resolve not to listen to the radio, to boycott MTV and VH1 and CMT.