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Annual Labor
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WHAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR HANDS is a distillation of 2007’s finest hours, finest half hours, even finest five minutes and 12 seconds (that would be Kanye West’s “Stronger”). It’s also a record of the fits and starts of an industry still struggling to make sense of how technology is redefining an art form in a manner not seen since the advent of polyvinyl chloride. All of this may signal the end of the music business as we once knew it, but as artists take more control of their product and careers, it’s also the start of something really special.
Here at Spin HQ, the new year brings with it some new beginnings. Visitors to Spin.com will notice that it has undergone a complete, top-to-bottom redesign that makes our online content not only more navigable and user-friendly, but also more, well, fun. Our site is now loaded with exclusive video, original features, hot blogs, news, amazing back-issue archives, and more. We know you have very limited options when it comes to perusing online infotainment, so why not give it a try?
If that’s not enough big news for you, then how about this? Spin is now available as a free digital download at Spin.com and at MySpace.com. What that means is, every single page of this magazine can be viewed on your computer with all the attendant online bells and whistles. It’s an enriched reading experience that features links to music, video, and—that word again—more. So if you’re interested in an artist you’re reading about, just click on the page to hear music, watch clips, even buy stuff. You get the picture.
As we were putting this issue together, we received the news that Kanye West’s mother, Donda, had died suddenly at the age of 58. Anyone who knows anything about Kanye knows that his mother was a huge influence on the man and his music. We’d like to extend our deepest sympathies to Kanye and to his family.
Doug Brod
Editor
FROM TOP: ALAN CLARKE; ERICNO WELS.COM
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