Music Quarterly

Image by Anson Maddocks

The worlds of music and technology have moved inexorably toward a convergence in the past year. Whichever way you slice it, the ways we experience, create, and interact with music will change. We examine three local Internet start-ups that are vying for a space in the digital marketplace. We select the 20 albums that shaped modern music's path and that will continue to influence artists. We take a look back at the silly formats that companies have foisted on consumers, from the 8-track to the cassingle, and see where MP3 fits. And the rise of electro and the death of rock criticism are also explored as we examine the future of music.

The 20 albums that shaped the future of music

by Richard Martin and Michaelangelo Matos

Start me up

Three new Seattle companies vie to shape the ways we interact with music. by Richard A. Martin

Those crazy cassingles

A walk through the history of ridiculous music playback formats. by Kurt B. Reighley

New music order

At century's end, techno takes a leap toward the mainstream. by Jackie McCarthy

Death to rock critics

What the digital age means to the jaded middlemen of the music biz. by Mark Driver