Liam, What's New in Music?

To a true music lover how one gets information on new music is rather important. One of the perks of living in the year 2008 is that most anything is available on the net. If one does informed research one can find all the great new music that's available out there. However, how can one learn to make informed music research? Granted, direct human feedback is a valid resource as well, but what about those without a direct connection to the music scene? How and where can a music lover make informed decisions regarding new music purchases? Is there such a thing as an informed voice out there that can guide the shopper in the virtual tune store? After all, not every person has a Liam they can rely on for music feedback.

This is a question Carrie over at NPR's Moniter Mix was asking herself too. She writes:
'Whether it was Stax, Hi, Dischord, Rough Trade, Cherry Red, or Trojan, we put our trust in music labels and made our purchases accordingly. Now that music seems to be floating on a universal plane out in the ether, and every release has the potential to be on equal footing (regardless of origin), it is easy to overlook record labels. Maybe because mainstream media keeps proclaiming their soon-to-be obsolescence.'
Carrie posts a most interesting interview with jagjaguwar as she investigates the question of label ranking. Read more here.
graph per Jade Bassix