Yesterday, I shared my Soundtrack For A Day, which for me meant sticking my media player on random, and seeing what came up. Others around the b5 Music Channel also shared their soundtracks, although most using different methods.

Our Digital Music built a track listing from morning to night.
The Rock Dose offers songs and lyrics to start your day.
Oz Music Scene plays a wide variety of tracks both new and old.
Toronto Unplugged gives you a chance to listen to 5 stand out tracks from a Sunday on the road.
Hip Hop Roll has one album that is taking over the rotation. Find out what album it is.
Pop Music Scene let’s us in on what Pop songs are hot and what tracks should be in your rotation.
Austin Sound Check provides a soundtrack to an Austin afternoon of listening to some solid tunes.
Big Apple Music Scene outlines 10 great New York tunes for a soundtrack Sunday
Metal Martyr posts the Twelvv P.M. Soundtrack Diary of Metal you should listen to.

Now that we’ve shared, it’s your turn to do the same, so let us know by commenting what records you’ve listened to today, or tomorrow or the next day.

[Photo Source: Brit Music Scene]

Ah The Beatles, they were great weren’t they? Probably the best band in the world ever, and the inspiration for a ton of music which has come and gone since.

So you’d think life would be pretty sweet for the former members of the group, well Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at least, seeing as the other two are dead and all.

But it seems only one of the two is happy to be a former Beatle right now, and with all the gossip swilling around at the moment, it’s probably not the one you think it is.

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The Charlatans have announced that their new album You Cross My Path will be available as a free download from the Xfm.co.uk website for two months prior to getting a full physical release.

This will the long running British band’s tenth studio album, but first to go the way of digital downloads as it’s preferred choice of consumer delivery.

The album will be completely free to download from the Xfm website from March 3rd. On May 19th, a full two and half months later, the album will get a physical release on both CD and Vinyl formats in 33 countries. To encourage fans to buy the retail version, this will include a strictly limited deluxe edition vinyl 45’s box set of the LP.

The first single Oh Vanity! will also be available as a standalone free download, from February 25th.

The full track listing for the album is going to be:

‘Oh! Vanity’
‘Bad Days’
‘Mis-takes’
‘The Misbegotten’
‘A Day For Letting Go’
‘You Cross My Path’
‘Missing Beats (Of A Generation)’
‘My Name Is Despair’
‘Bird / Reprise’
‘This Is The End’

I know what you’re thinking? The same thing as everyone else in the blogosphere seems to, that The Charlatans are merely copying Radiohead, and hoping to receive as much publicity for the download offer as they did last year.

But, it seems that with a further bit of digging, you can clearly see that The Charlatans thought of it first, and Radiohead may have actually copied them in the first place.

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In a move which may annoy loyal fans and make anyone else shrug their shoulders, and then get on with their lives, British indie rockers The Kaiser Chiefs have informally announced their decision to stop making albums in favour of new formats.

The Leeds band, who have been one of the most instrumental groups in getting indie back on the map, say they have become bored with traditional cycle within the music industry of releasing an album every two years, and so have decided to break with that.

Drummer Nick Hodgson told the NME recently:

“We mentioned mini-albums and double EPs, but we’ve got no fixed plans yet. We want to break the routine of having to make an album every two years. It’s totally boring.”

“In the charts there are tons of indie bands playing chords and singing songs about the weekend. We’re going to be doing the opposite and being the best.”

I can see their point, and in this day and age of digital downloads, and multiple format choices, bands certainly have more option when it comes to deciding how to release their material on to the public.

But, and it’s a big but, an album is what the fans want, and every year or two is just about right. People, particularly fans, don’t want to buy EPs all the time, or have to scour the web for their favourite group’s new songs. That’s okay from time to time, and can add massively to a band’s fan base, but people will soon get sick if it happens all the time.

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At the beginning of October, Radiohead rocked the music industry by offering their new album ‘In Rainbows’ as a download only, and allowing the fans to pay what they wanted for it. If that meant 10p then so be it, although most people tended to pay more like £4 for it.

Now they have announced that the album will be getting a physical release through XL Recordings on New Years Day 2008, and have released the artwork which will go on the cover.

So now you can see what the album will look like sitting on your shelf or on top of that big pile of CDs you never play any more since buying an mp3 player.

It’s a bit weird to say the least, and can I suggest a bit amateurish?! I suppose it is in keeping with the experimental nature of the album, both in content and delivery.

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As well as my 10 British Albums I’d like to be stuck on a
desert island with, some of the other blogs around the b5 Music Channel
have also written about their choices.

Lauren offers the best of the Oz Music Scene.

Bruce let’s us in on Our Digital Music.

Scott rocks out his 10 at Metal Martyr.

Jennifer at Hippie Sounds gives us her top 10
60’s & 70’s vinyl albums for island life.

Sammi at 52 Bands gives us the albums she
couldn’t live without.

Mike at Big Apple Music Scene draws from
New York’s historic and legendary artists.

Ear Sucker blogger Roberta throws
you her rock variety.

She Plays Music gives you the
best female albums.

Check them out and see how many of the chosen ones would alos
be on your list of music to take with you if you ever get in to a
‘Lost’ situation.

All the blogs would value some comments, including me, and
when you go on that fateful cruise or plane journey don’t forget the
batteries!

We all know single sales have been dropping for a good while, and that to be Number 1 in the charts now takes a lot less effort now than 2 years ago. But it seems that album sales are dropping now too.

Album sales are down by 10% in the first half of 2007, according to the The British Phonographic Industry. That equates to 6.5 million less records sold this year than the same time last year. The industry has raked a little back by increasing digital album sales by 2 million, but that’s still quite a substantial drop.

Is this a cause for concern, for both retailers and consumers alike? The fewer albums get sold, the less money there is swilling around for the promotion and signing of new acts, which the British music industry needs to keep the momentum going.

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