I was a late-blooming R.E.M. fan (attatching myself to their style not long after Yankovic parodied “Stand”). Now, I can’t imagine my life with out ‘em. I blasted Ethan Kaplan a quick IM to suggest a few things they could do with their YouTube account, and he told me that R.E.M. just debuted a song there a few days ago. How cool is that? No, I mean… the song is great, as you would come to expect – but the bigger story is that it debuted outside of traditional media boundaries. Weird Al did the same thing a few months ago (albeit, on a different video network – an “exclusive” that was quickly circumvented).

Music, movies, television, radio, etc. – EVERYTHING IS MOVING IN THIS DIRECTION, AND THERE AIN’T A DAMN THING ANYBODY CAN DO TO STOP IT. ARE YOU LISTEENING, HOLLYWOOD?! IT MAY NOT HAPPEN THIS YEAR OR NEXT YEAR, BUT IT WON’T BE LONG NOW. Sorry, my Caps Lock key got stuck there (I blame Vista).

It’s funny and sad at the same time. With all of these lawsuits and DRM schemes and levies flying around… it’s like they think “control” actually exists. My suggestion? Stop fighting the current and figure out how to ride it – and if you need help, all you have to do is ask. If you can’t figure out a business model in this new world – you won’t be here for very long. Until then, I remain white and nerdy…

R.E.M. Debuts Song on YouTube