THE GRAMMYS ARE A GO

I know it's not supposed to be cool to like The Grammys (R) but they are one of the only awards ceremonies that I respect (even if their nominations drive me crazy sometimes). Full disclosure: I'm a member of the RIAA. There's a lot of criticism you can throw at the RIAA, but they do support keeping music in schools, trying to help out musicians who are having problems with drugs and alcohol, and there's other good things that they do as well.

I'm glad that the Screenwriters Guild isn't picketing the Grammys though. The music industry is having enough trouble, it could really use the bump that it gets from this show. No, I don't care if Beyonce sells another 100,000 records, but just getting people to go to... wherever they can go to to buy CDs, or to amazon or itunes, to me that's a good thing. I think artists are wise to give away their music when appropriate, but I don't think it should always be free. Of course the main reason why people initially felt so justified in taking music for free was the ludicrious prices that major labels charged for (and still charge for) music.

I thought last year's "My Grammy Moment" stunt, where a few singers competed for the chance to perform with Justin Timberlake was a bit gimmicky, but ultimately I thought it was a good idea. This year, young musicians will perform "The Pretender" with The Foo Fighters. The musicians will be part of an orchestra conducted by none other than Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones (who guested on the last Foo Fighters album, In Your Honor).

So, yes: Bruce Springsteen deserved more nominations than he got, but I'm still glad the show will go on.