MUMBAI: CMJ Music Marathon, the annual five-day event held by music publishing company College Music Journal commences on 16 October 2007 in New York.

The 2007 edition, which starts on October 16, 2007, features over 1,000 bands and artists--mostly independent, but with a few popular names like Spoon, Coheed & Cambria, and `90s veterans the Meat Puppets--at several dozen venues around the city.

There are also a seemingly endless number of panels to attend, from "Pocket Jockin`: Mobile Music and the Future of Distribution" to "Booze, Boobs and Bribes."It`s no secret that this is a pivotal time for the music industry. High-profile artists are ditching their major labels, the RIAA is cracking down on piracy, and some formerly hyped-up start-ups are faltering. There are going to be a lot of big-time and small-time influencers at CMJ. Plus, digital music companies, eager to get a leg up on Apple`s iTunes and other industry leaders and spread the word at an event full of influential music fans, are quick to make sure their names are branded somewhere on CMJ`s roster. Media-sharing social network Imeem has a CMJ tie-in page, and alternative music store AmieStreet sponsored a competition to pick an independent band to open for Norwegian dance-punk act Datarock. And, to top it all off, there`ll be a screening of "Quarterlife," the new series that a coalition of TV veterans have created for the MySpaceTV platform.