Tomorrow's Non-Vinyl

I think somebody at CBS has their thinking cap on. Its newly-announced online music strategy could well capitalize on the media-consolidation complaints about new artist's access to outlets and turn them instead into bucks for parent Viacom.

Given that Viacom is one of the companies that gets hammered for its size, that would be making some lemonade out of a whole bunch of lemons.

I don't know about the CBS Records name, though, unless they have some fun with the fact that it is so "yesterday's vinyl."

I Guess you couldn't call it CBS CDs cause they, too, could soon be going the way of the pterydactl and the eight-track tape, at least the ones not burned at home (CD's, not pterydactls or eight-tracks).

CBS iTunes has a ring to it–oh, sorry, that was my cell phone with the latest track from The Killers–but that iTunes name is already taken. Remember when people were opining about Apple's slump and Jobs' soul-searching treks. I think he was just looking for the extra set of keys to Fort Knox he dropped on his last trip to Tibet.

Anyway, I think we need a contest to come up with either a hipper name for the new CBS Records label or a logo that is both retro and forward-o.

Hmmm. CBS, "Computer-Based Songs Inc." Ugh! "Notebook." Says "computers" and "notes" and maybe bookmark, like bookmark the site. I kind of like it, though CBS would have to muscle out the computer accessories people that have notebook.com.

As for an animated logo. How about a disk that gets smaller and smaller until it becomes the dot in, say CBSnotebook.com.

By John Eggerton