Quick Hits: More on podcasts; India and Internet radio; recalling the death of CDs; too many lawyers

Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:

Forbes on podcasting: The podcast boom is hardly a new idea, but we still see regular reviews of the audio format and its increasing popularity. Forbes has started a four-part review of podcasting today, covering topics such as discovery, business models, and the outlook for the format.

India and Internet radio: Next we have a collection of very different opinions on the outlook for Internet radio in India. Interesting to see the wide range of thoughts on how this form of communication might fit into the market, especially one that has been seeing success with other digital music formats.

An oral history on CDs’ last days: Billboard published highlights from the first part of a project by BBC’s  Matt Everitt. The oral history covered discussions with the central execs who were active during the time of the transition away from CDs and toward digital music formats. The first section covers those early days, and the forthcoming second one will center on modern streaming services.

Call for “more innovators and fewer lawyers:” Tracy Maddux, CD Baby CEO, penned a guest post for Music Business Worldwide addressing the recent spate of legal actions in digital music. “We can’t stand by as class-action vampires step in to sue everybody and anybody whose data is incomplete,” he said. “Litigation rarely enables or forces fundamental changes.” He cautioned that extensive lawsuits could create more damage within the music business by draining resources and creativity rather than establishing new precedents for royalty distribution.

Anna Washenko