Summary: This week, we'll look at fair-trade music. Over the past several years, three things have changed the course of popular music, for better or worse. First came the marriage of music and video and the overwhelming marketing power it presented. It was an expensive tool requiring serious funding by record labels loathe to take chances on what they viewed as a commodity. Next was the advent of personal digital recording allowing bands to record professional quality music on a shoestring and finally the Internet offered the ability for bands to market their own music. Fair-trade music acknowledges this and offers a new relationship between artist and fan. Embracing the new paradigm are Laki Mera, The Chill Conspiracy, Lich, to the sea with me and Radio Orphans.
