There is a little revolution going on in the music world: it is the democratization of the industry. Plainly, it means that a talented no-name band can create a solid fan base using only the means available to them personally. The "means" in particular here are the internet and its killer apps (blogging, social networking, file sharing). Bands can now distribute mp3s for bloggers to review and create Myspace pages where they harvest "friends" by the truckload. This can create a buzz in the underground that can amount to serious sales. Of course, even with these resources most bands will never be known beyond their circle of friends but it does open doors for the more gifted bunch. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is one recent example. They sold around 40,000 copies of their self-released, self-titled debut album. They did it all themselves: managing a database of orders, licking stamps and driving to the post office. It's a fantastic success story that should give hope to all artists out there. This phenomenon is likely to happen again, and in fact there is already a carbon-copy occurence from the UK with an equally silly name: The Arctic Monkeys.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are on a national tour right now. Sadly those who did not snag tickets early on through the band's website are left to deal with TicketMaster. For delivering two tickets, TM takes about the same money as a brand new CD in "convenience fees". If there is a band out there that exemplifies the indie movement today, it has to be Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. If there is a music-related corporation that exemplifies the greedy monopolistic culture of the industry it has to be Ticketmaster (well actually there are a number of corps that could fit but I am not going to go off on an RIAA tangent right now). Apart from being a sad irony, this shows that the budding democratization of the recording industry has not yet spread to the concert business. And with TicketMaster firmly in charge of everything, will we ever pay reasonable prices for tickets again?