I have scoured the web for you, dearest readers, and I present you with the biggest news in music and technology. These news items could signal a music industry sea change, a merger of technology and creativity that births a newfound era of music and culture. Oh, also, I'll tell you about a site where you can make cheap R. Kelly sex jokes on ticket stubs.

SpiralFrog - spiralfrog.com

A "musical destination" that offers free and legal downloads, SpiralFrog is making big news with their upcoming launch later this year. But as anything involving both corporations and technology, it's one step forward and two steps back. While Spiral Frog recently signed a multi-million-dollar deal allowing them to offer the catalog of Universal Music—they'll carry EMI's catalog as well—the free downloads don't come without a price. Ads—a whole lot of them. While reports vary on how many ads you'll have to endure before being greenlighted for that free download, early word has it that it will be 90 seconds, per song. While that doesn't sound too bad, keep in mind, for a 15-song record, that's almost 23 minutes of solid ads (no, you can't skip them) that you will have to watch.

iTube - benjaminstrahs.com/itube.php

Can't get enough of OK Go dancing on treadmills? While it's no solution for our generation's addiction to YouTube, iTube is a freeware program that downloads YouTube videos directly into your video iPod, allowing you to bask in the wonder of free useless videos, and actually get out of the house once in awhile.

Concert Ticket Generator - says-it.com/concertticket

Fancy yourself a big-time promoter? Why bother with all the hard work of dealing with bands and flyering shows, when technology can build the perfect concert for you? The Concert Ticket Generator allows you to type in any musical lineup you can fathom, and then generates a ticket to your dream concert. The image we used here was someone else's idea, I swear. I'm not that clever, or that sick.

DC Punk Walking Tour - yellowarrow.net/capitolofpunk

Part of the Yellow Arrow art project (see the site for more info), this guide is a how-to map for DC visitors who want to blow-off the Smithsonian in favor of seeing the house that Nation of Ulysses used to live at. The amount of work that went into this is staggering, with customized Google Maps and amazing streaming video that features interviews with everyone from Ian MacKaye to Marion Barry. My question is, why can't there be a Portland version of this? I want to walk around and see were Sean Croghan played video poker in 1989 or where Greg from the Wipers bought his produce back in 1981. Come on Yellow Arrow, Portland Punk Walking Tour. Get on it!