Quickly glancing at the dial to confirm his format choice, Dave proclaims, “What’s old is new again!” while fumbling for the volume knob on his car stereo. The cyclical nature of this axiom holds true for so much of our lives, especially the music we listen to. Long before the days when rock radio fragmented, album oriented rock (AOR) was the source for all things with loud screaming guitars and bands like AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses ruled the radio airwaves. The main factor with heritage artists, especially to a younger crowd, is cultural relevance. Some bands have it and others don’t. You can’t go into a mall anywhere in America and not see a black t-shirt with a hard rock band logo on it. Heritage artists such as Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC and Metallica help bolster a station’s gold library by bringing a connection between the old and the new. These records are over 10 years old and in most cases help to attract the higher male demographics, which are so important for the Alternative format.

To say that bay-area rockers the Stone Foxes embrace the DiY philosophy would be an understatement. The Stone Foxes represent the next generation of multi-media musicians. Having grown up in the computer age, they simply know no other way. And with a desire to maintain as much control over their image and representation to the record buying public, modern technology has made this a reality for today’s multi-tasking musicians.

By all accounts, 2008 was a good year for The Airborne Toxic Event. They have become the darlings of Los Angeles press and radio and fixtures on the Southern California music scene. Their songs feature wide, sweeping hooks, garnering comparisons to Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire as well as the Clash and U2. The acts self-titled debut album—the band’s name is from the postmodern novel “White Noise” by Don DeLillo—is co-produced by Pete Min (Longwave, Ivy).

R&R’s Latin monitored charts are more than just a list of the most-played songs at individual Latin formats. They are an invaluable research tool for programmers and record promoters. From the reasons why play-based charts are important to deciphering +/- indicators, R&R charts and music manager Michael D. Vogel takes us step by step through all the information the charts provide.

The dream is always the same – a sleek sports car flying down the Pacific Coast Highway, the crashing surfing pounding the beach below. The music is pulsating out of the speakers; the searing guitars, the pounding drums, the thick rhythm of the bass and the unmistakable vocal roar. The songs may be interchangeable but one thing remains a constant – the band, Metallica! And for a quarter century, they have been just that, a constant! As my head begins to rock back and forth and my fingers tighten their grip on the steering wheel, I realize today is no dream. So, it’s off to the legendary Cow Palace in San Francisco for an intimate evening with Metallica and a few hundred of their closest friends and family. And the only thing between Los Angeles and the city by the bay was a lot of asphalt and several hours of rockin’, Metallica-style.

R&R’s Latin monitored charts are more than just a list of the most-played songs at individual Latin formats. They are an invaluable research tool for programmers and record promoters. From the reasons why play-based charts are important to deciphering +/- indicators, R&R charts and music manager Michael D. Vogel takes us step by step through all the information the charts provide.

With much due respect and influence to Spinal Tap, here’s a list of some of the hottest new metal bands that might break through to the masses: