"Can I get your autograph? Black ink on a photograph."   Listening to the strains of “Already Famous,” you can’t help but be reminded of the sound of Ziggy Stardust. Selena Mars’s deep, slightly raspy voice layers over the song’s instrumentation in the same way that Ziggy Stardust’s voice came slow and easy over the music of “Space Oddity.” But whereas Bowie’s Ziggy came out of a self-proclaimed arrogance, Selena Mars’ music is inspired by other people.

“Relationships are a big thing for me,” says Mars.

Inspired by Aretha Franklin, Bjork and Mary Jo Blige, Mars started writing music when she was around 17. In 1999, she dropped out of FIT, where she was studying fashion and photography. She went on tour with a band as a back-up singer and dancer, but when the band was dropped from the label, her first tour was over.

“It was weird. The record sales just weren’t there. It made me think that the industry is very fickle,” says Mars.

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The 'sophomore slump' (for US readers), or 'difficult second album syndrome' (for my European counterparts), is a challenge that every band must face. For the uninitiated, the popular theory says that albums follow the law of diminishing returns: the second will rarely be superior to the first. And if by chance, it is, a career in music is almost a given.

After a fantastic debut album, everything changes: band dynamics, the weight on your shoulders, and of course, popularity.

Some bands don't know how to deal with the newfound expectation. Writing music is much easier when no one is interested. But when the heat and promotional madhouse of a successful debut album dies down, how do you respond? How can you recreate the magic, at least equalling, if not surpassing your first attempt to prove that you are capable? This is a trial by fire, the true ritual that must be passed in order for talent to be affirmed. The second album often proves elusive. And coincidentally, it's also the album that will make or break a career.

Others can't work on a time frame. A debut album can be crafted across a lifetime, because no one is waiting for you. When a band has been struggling for years, perfecting their songs in front of various audiences, touring until exhaustion, and honing their act, that same process is difficult to condense into a year, the acceptable follow up period.  

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On April 3rd, 2008, the compact disc was officially pronounced dead. Having been on the brink of death for a long time, the music industry (and music listeners) finally pulled the plug. The first blow suffered by the compact disc was at the hands of Shawn Fanning, the creator of Napster. It remains to see whether it was intentional or not, but he jabbed the CD industry with a sharp stick, opening the dam and allowing MP3s to be distributed free of charge to anyone.

The second blow to the compact disc was on October 23rd, 2001. Thanks to Apple, this new MP3 format now had the ability to be taken anywhere. Instead of having only one CD in your player, you could have much, much more, in a smaller MP3 player. With this advancement, mob rule took over the music industry, and the compact disc had been under attack ever since. Millions, and now billions, of dollars worth of songs are being downloaded to fill people’s iPods. Some legally, but many more illegally. Why would anyone want to support CDs when there is a much cheaper (free) alternative?

Yet, the CD survived all of this until the third of April. On this day, Apple announced it was the top music retailer in the United States, overtaking Walmart. It's official - digital is the people’s way to go.

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