The third in a series of posts here at the Vine where we link to interesting and thoughtful articles and blog posts about music from all over the world.

Pour Some Sugarland On Me by Steve Leftridge (PopMatters): Leftridge argues that classic rock is not dead; it’s just called country music now. Modern country music (your Dixie Chicks and Taylor Swifts) has much more in common with Def Leppard and Bon Jovi than it does Hank Williams. Unfortunately.

In Maryland, George Clinton, Parliament-Funkadelic, And The Missing Mothership by Chris Richards (Washington Post):  In 1982, Parliament-Funkadelic were at breaking point, submerged under a tide of disco, overrun with debt. So their roadie dumped their famous UFO behind a service station in the state of Maryland, USA. Where is it now? A story worthy, perhaps, of the X-Files.

What’s The Matter With Sweden? by Marc Hogan (Pitchfork): The name of the article riffs on, What’s The Matter With Kansas?, an influential book about the spread of conservatism in the South of the USA, but Hogan is more interested in the effects of generous government funding of pop music – without government support, would there have been an Arcade Fire or The Knife?

Silibil ‘n Brains: The End Of Authenticity by Hermione Hoby (The Guardian): As far as the music industry is concerned, authentic rappers do not come from Scotland; so two boys from Dundee in Scotland dressed up, put on accents, and pretended to be Californian. And the music industry lapped it up for years before their secret was out.

Powderfinger’s Golden Handshake by JP Hammond (Mess & Noise): A tough, fair-minded - and most of all, well-thought-out - assessment of the recorded legacy of Oz rock luminaries Powderfinger.

How Much Do Music Artists Earn Online? by David McCandless (Information Is Beautiful): If you’re buying records rather than downloading them in order to help the artists you like survive, where should you be buying them so that the artist gets the maximum amount of money? McCandless’s neat little infographic has very much gone around the blogs this week, and you should see it too if you haven’t already.

The Freeloaders by Megan McArdle (The Atlantic): Illegal downloaders aren’t going away, and even those music nerds who buy some obscure band’s CD each week are buying less than they used to. McArdle – a commentator on politics and economics for the current affairs magazine The Atlantic - asks: what effects might this have on the future of musical entertainment?

Famous People Are Just More Interesting: Do Today’s Groupies Deserve Public Scorn? (and part 2) by Luke O’Neil (Alternative Press): These days, groupies are named and shamed online, on blogs like “Fuck Yeah Groupies”. Is this immoral? And what is it that motivates a groupie to sleep with famous people?

Tim Byron