In the music industry's latest attempt to lazily claw itself out of the grave, the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) is proposing a $5.00 per month licence fee on Canadian Internet accounts that would legalize music downloads. They're calling it the Right to Equitable Remuneration for Music File Sharing, a "reasonable and unobtrusive system of compensation" that will allow consumers to fill their bellies full of all the music they can handle from any......

Last Wednesday, legendary Canadian music retailer Pindoff Record Sales sold off their 72-store Music World chain. Two days later, the new owners filed for bankruptcy protection and and will likely lay off 648 employees by the end of January. And so it goes. According to court documents, Music World plans an "orderly wind down," including closing stores and liquidating inventory. The retailer has been in dire straits for years, propped up by the Toronto-based......

If you missed the disappointing auction, you still have a chance to grab something from the now defunct Sam the Record Man—this time, for free! The building at Yonge and Gould Streets has been clearing out today and leaving the odds and ends outside under a sign indicating they are free for the taking. Unless you’re into Daddy's Boys on VHS or collect foam boards advertising CDs and their prices, there isn't much. But......

Canadians can no longer access Demonoid.com, the world's second-most popular BitTorrent tracker. According to a statement on Demonoid's website, legal action treatened by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) has forced them to block connections from Canada. This can only be seen as a major victory for the CRIA. Thanks to them, it is no longer possible to download pirated music off the internet...unless, of course, you happen to live outside of Canada, or you......

The Art of Time Ensemble played their final shows of the 2006/2007 season this past Thursday and Friday at the Harbourfront Centre. The group's aim is to bring chamber music to new ears by blending it with other genres and new ideas, while retaining its elegance and intelligence. Andrew Burashko created The Art of Time as a way to "test my assumption that we could present chamber music in an accessible way." Judging by......

The City of Toronto's Community Environment Days combine a number of different worthwhile initiatives into one event. They began last month and continue until the end of September, with each Ward getting their own day. There are four main stuff-related activities to do:Buy stuff like recycling bins, green bins, water efficiency kits, and rain barrels.Get free stuff, like leaf compost and rain gauges. (Actually, that's it for the free stuff. Go leaf compost!)Get rid of......

Every two weeks "What's The Frequency, Campus?" will highlight some of the intriguing shows and special programming happening on Toronto's campus and community radio stations. Community radio is known for its championing of emerging Canadian talent, and it was in this spirit that Dig Your Roots was born. An initiative of the National Campus and Community Radio Association, DYR is a series of compilation CDs accompanied by cross-Canada tours. Each set is focused around a......

“Use more…waste less!” That’s the motto of the new barter-community web site known as SwitchPlanet. SwitchPlanet is now open to the public as a beta version (which might explain why the interface is a little less than intuitive). The site facilitates trading DVDs, CDs and video games with an online community of people who create lists of the items they want and the items they wish they had. The currency of SwitchPlanet is known......

Each weekday morning, we pick a recent image from the Torontoist Flickr Pool and feature it here on the site. It's our way to give the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve! Newsflash: Rave culture is still alive and well in 2007. This always comes as a surprise to some of us at Torontoist. Wasn't raving like soooo 1992..? Perhaps we shouldn't have been so hasty selling off those old Underworld......

Happy Holidays from the Ist-A-Verse! Austinist is in good holiday spirits, and so is their interview, Andy Roddick. They know what CDs they want in their stockings, but more than that, they know that the greatest gift you can give them is making fun of a famous Austinite on national television. Torontoist isn't really feeling the Christmas spirit, though: unfortunately, there's still no snow in Toronto. Maybe if somebody were to put a big Christmas......

It's about time that Toronto started a feud with a major American city, and we think that Los Angeles, California has gotten off easy for far too long. The over-the-top Hollywood sign compared to our noble and restrained skyline; their smaller phallic symbol compared to our much, much bigger one; their cloud of smog compared to our green bins and green thumbs; their palm trees compared to our pine ones. So we were thinking,......

Contests! Glorious contests! Yet another one for all of you - this one's for two pairs of tickets to see The Constantines with Lullabye Arkestra and Shotgun & Jaybird at Lee's Palace on Friday December 1, 2006. The show's 19+, and tickets would normally put you out $17.50. To win, send an e-mail to contests@torontoist.com before midnight next Wednesday, November 29, and tell us three "The" bands that you think should exist (like, say,......

We realize that we probably talk about Owen Pallett, aka Final Fantasy, way too much. So we're not going to talk about his free show on Saturday night at North York Central Library, also featuring The Creeping Nobodies, Hank, Ninja High School, and Bob Wiseman. Nope, not a word. Instead, what we do want to tell you about is the Toronto Public Library's stellar new local CD selection - the whole reason that the......

Friends, readers, commenters; lend us your ears, and a few seconds of your time. We should clarify something: we're not actually always grumpy. We don't hate you, the city, or human existence. In fact, we love it here, otherwise we wouldn't spend so much time writing about it. Our staff comes from far and wide - Vancouver, Ottawa, Glasgow, Montreal, Whitby, wherever - and have all somehow made our way here. We all have......

It’s weird to think of used CD stores belonging to another era, but apparently it’s true. In just a short time, stores like Sonic Boom and Second Spin have added vinyl to their selection, while others are going out of business. One of these is Flash and Crash- its selection is/was second to none and never outrageously priced. (Note to other used record stores: you just can’t price a used cd at $19.99 and......

LAist has so much fun this week! They go to E3, where they overhear the timeless remark "Man, this is where nerdy girls get laid." Is that a promise? They also give us this week's best CDs and make us realize that LA is the best place to use Zillow. Ah, Houstonist. They're biking to work, that is, if they can figure out how to get there. That's right, Mapquest says "Houston had the......

The Adam Brown, lynchpin of the Montreal independent music scene, played to an ever-rackety crowd at the regular Sunday night Wavelength show at Sneaky D(is)ees. Evidence of this racketiness were the numerous crowd-surfers, stage-joiners, and sold-out The Adam Brown CDs. The group, becoming something of a sensation around Toronto, had ran out of copies of their Even the Skies are Blue before even taking the stage - a bit of a rarity at Wavelength.......

By reading just about any business or tech writing (Wired comes to mind), you'd know that Sony-BMG is in some HEAT. But we don't hear much about the who's and the what for's, do we? Well, here's some answers: The affected CD's include the latest Bad Plus and Neil Diamond, as well as some horrible albums that no Torontoist readers would consider buying (hopes-fully). As of last Friday, all 52 titles are now listed on......

Tall Poppy Interview: Chuck Klosterman ...

Rufus Wainwright, the man, the messiah, the DVD. After his well-documented rehab visit, and last year's expansive Want CDs, the Rufus Wainwright people put forth a collection of videos, home movies and interviews called All I Want. As the title implies, this works as a detailed companion to the Wants, catering much to Rufus's latter albums. As underrated as those albums might be, their treatment is a little heavy handed here. A Portrait of Rufus......

Free North By Northeast stuff for everyone! Earplugs, CDs, thousands of magazines/promo junk and a mini flashlight in these neon green NXNE bags. Picture taken at the Holiday Inn swag fest.......

We can’t all be humanitarian celebs, donating US$1M to the Red Cross’s good work (Sandra Bullock) or warbling on a fundraising single (Boy George, Cliff Richard et al.). Enter Nathalie-Roze Fischer, go-getting local columnist (and chief glamazon of her accessories fempire). With a little help from designers-about-town, she’s organized a massive designer jumble sale taking place this Saturday at Bellefair United Church (2002 Queen St. East in the Beaches, across from Kew Gardens), 10am -......

Magic Pony plays host to a book launch for artist Andrew Pommier's collection, Things I Don't Remember. Pommier's work has graced skateboards and CDs, which is not to say that Teddy and Bunny, two of his funnier drawings, wouldn't look nice on your kitchen wall. It's always important to have a few people dressed in bunny suits gracing the wall. Pony up or pony down to Queen St. Or just walk.......

Ear to the Ground, a new independent arts festival, won't take hold of the city until next September, but in the interim your ear can be the first to the floor when the group holds a fundraiser tomorrow night at Rancho Relaxo. Snoovy, Bandwidth X and Convertible Robots will play, with DJs spinning intermittently. On top of that, there will be raffles for Bloor Cinema passes, CDs and "fine, fine merch." Doors open at 8pm.......