Hey there! Sorry I missed a post or two — life in the music biz Terrordome is pretty busy-making. This week’s industry roundup will hopefully make up for my absence. So step right in, and we’ll get to it.

Sampling is the copyright issue that refuses to die. As hip-hop rose from the streets to become big business, sample-based artists suddenly had to be very careful about what they threaded together on their records. For example, there’s basically no way an album like Public Enemy‘s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back could (legally) be made today. And that record is in the Library of Congress!

Obviously, this is a complicated issue. But no matter what side of the debate you’re on, you can probably agree that there’s a good deal of tension between music licensing and contemporary audio production techniques.

If you’re interested in this stuff, check out this Atlantic article by University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod, who also happens to be the co-producer of an excellent film about sampling, Copyright Criminals. Kembrew is a close friend of my organization, and is the co-author of our upcoming book about sampling, Creative License (Duke University Press, 2011).

Say, you guys are record store people. . . what do you think of this article at PopMatters, “MP3s, the Death of the Record Store, and the Birth of the Closet Hipster?” I think it’s kind of silly.

This is interesting: 44 percent of UK 12-15 Year-Olds Think File-Sharing Should Be Legal. To me, this makes the case for blanket licensing that can be monetized at the ISP level, or at least so-called “bundled services,” which would offer opt-in, “all-you-can-eat” music consumption subsidized by a fee on your internet bill.

Musicians: here’s an informed take on the health care situation that applies to you.

I was at SXSW a couple of weeks ago. One of the panels I was at, “The Cloud Vs. the Paradise of Infinite Storage,” was incredibly fascinating. Read about it here.

You rekkid store peeps have probably also noticed that Universal Music has dropped its CD price to 10 bucks. I’m sure Crandall and I would both agree that this is something they maybe woulda been smart to think about doing around 2002-2003. Sigh.

Again, it’s hard to see a future where CDs sell at anywhere near the level that they did in the 1990s through, say, 2001. Particularly when you see reports stating that mobile app sales will outpace CD revenue by 2012.

Hmm, if Sony or Universal don’t license the copyrights of soon-to-be-extinct EMI, what happens to the Beatles catalog? I’m putting my money on Monsanto.

I don’t want to be the bringer of bad tidings, so let’s close on an upbeat note. Here’s a guitar that’s made to be smashed.

OK, that’s all the time I have for you weirdos. Buy my album. It’s at Pure Pop. Seriously, I only have a few copies left. It’s now officially a collector’s item.

Casey Rae-Hunter is a musician, producer, writer and music/media/tech/policy wonk in Washington, DC. This post does not necessarily reflect the views of his employer. You can harass Casey at his site, The Contrarian.