Five Ways the Music Industry Is Changing in Seattle (and Everywhere Else)

A 2005 article I just found.

Five Ways the Music Industry Is Changing in Seattle (and Everywhere Else) (Seattle Weekly): "Seattle used to hang on the periphery of the music business, as a place where bands occasionally broke out, as a convenient place to begin or end a national tour, as a classic midsized secondary market—half college town, half hidden treasure. That began changing around the turn of the '90s, particularly (but not exclusively) in the wake of the Nirvana/Pearl Jam/Alice in Chains/Soundgarden juggernaut. But in 2005, Seattle is not only a strikingly diverse musical place, it's also at the very heart of the industry. Sub Pop, Barsuk, and other indie labels flourish. The tech industry, always important to the biz and never more so than now, thrives here (even if Apple, the canniest marketer/manufacturer of music-related gizmos—hello, iPod—doesn't). Venues are aplenty, there's no shortage of new talent at any given time, and you're as liable to bump into an internationally renowned techno producer at your local tavern as you are a member of an up-and-coming garage band. It's a great time and a great place to be a music fan."