No Joke: NBC’s Brian Williams Launches BriTunes

  

I doubt that my father ever got his music recommendations from Walter Cronkite, but that's exactly what NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams hopes to provide with BriTunes, a new web only feature which he announced recently on the TV broadcast.

"Okay, so I didn't name this thing, but I did come up with the idea," says Williams. "I have always loved identifying good music and good groups – discovering them early (bar bands are best) and following them…

through their journey. While we'll interview some established musicians, mostly I'd like this to be a place where people can sample some of the great music being created every day, by talented musicians who wouldn't dream of doing anything else."

The series may be designed to drive more traffic to the Nightly News web site or perhaps it's NBC giving Williams an outlet for self-expression.  Either way, the feature should provide some significant exposure for the artists he picks.  And before you automatically dismiss the preppy and controlled Williams's taste as pedestrian, check out his first pick, the Brooklyn based Deer Tick.