ReadWriteWeb

The "iTunes LP" is just one of the many new iTunes features revealed yesterday during Apple's announcement at their "It's Only Rock and Roll"-themed event. But the iTunes LP, unlike the other new features which get to exist as simple and fun enhancements in iTunes 9, has a heavy burden on its shoulders. It's supposed to revitalize the music industry by encouraging consumers to once again purchase entire albums as opposed to single tracks. With this new digital album format, the idea is to replicate the experience of buying an album, complete with lyrics, liner notes, album art, photos, and more, giving music buyers extra content to peruse while enjoying their new music. The only problem is that this so-called "interactive" format isn't all that interactive. And what's more, innovative artists are already discovering how to monetize their music while engaging fans in new ways that have nothing to do with a re-imagined LP. Instead, the "interactive format" of the future isn't the album, it's the app.

What do supermodel Veronica Webb, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Jajah co-founder Roman Scharf all have in common? Besides wealth and celebrity, they're all connected to today's launch of Talenthouse entertainment network. The site promises to be a space where creators in film, fashion, visual art, music and photography showcase their work for collaboration and discovery. Scharf is Talenthouse's CEO, while Dorff and Webb have agreed to invite community members to contribute to upcoming projects.

According to the release, Talenthouse "empowers all artists to create original content, collaborate with each other and become recognized by a global audience." I know what you're thinking. Apart from the flashy graphics and Bono voice over, how is this different from YouTube or MySpace?

The BBC Music Beta project is an ongoing effort by the BBC to build semantically linked and annotated web pages about artists and singers whose songs are played on BBC radio stations. Within these pages, collections of data are enhanced and interconnected with semantic metadata, letting music fans explore connections between artists that they may have not known existed.