NPR report on the topic. Generally, when I hear the word monetize my eyes glaze over and I stop paying attention but this was quite a good report.

“More and more what we hear from young people is, ‘I really have no need to buy that song from iTunes, or really I can’t even be bothered to steal it, because I’ve listened to it on MySpace now a thousand times and if I ever hear it again it will be too soon,” Garland says.

Young people increasingly discover new songs and artists by reading music blogs and listening to Web radio. But Bracy warns that the fate of the music industry — in particular, the future of independent artists — hinges on the unencumbered availability of music online — specifically, the issue of network neutrality.

Net neutrality is the idea that Internet providers must treat all content equally. It’s the subject of pending legislation, and it’s opposed by cable and telecom companies that want to offer different tiers of service — and prioritize their premium customers’ content. (See a primer.)

If Net neutrality goes the way of the LP, Bracy says, it would be a tough, new atmosphere for independent musicians.

“It is absolutely vital for the future of the music community that we don’t allow these two industries to basically lock down the Internet in the same way that Clear Channel and several other large corporations locked down commercial radio,” Bracy says.

It’s not a big truck - it’s a series of tubes