A first look at 2008's live music landscape, plus ongoing trends that will shape how music looks and sounds this year

By Kurt B. Reighley
Special to MSN Music

New albums from proven stars and buzzworthy stars-in-training are only part of the picture in our 2008 music forecast. Major concert tours are being unveiled for the prime spring and summer seasons, alongside talent lineups for major festivals showcasing a variety of genres. From up-to-the-minute rock events such as the Coachella Festival in Southern California to the eclectic gumbo of roots, rock, pop and points beyond at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, live music is more plentiful and popular than ever.

The new year also merits a look at the ongoing change in how people find and enjoy music. As traditional CD sales continue to erode, the music industry is scrambling to adapt to those changes with both hits and misfires equally likely.  There are the ripples of the "Radiohead effect" to consider as well: Other artists, big and small, are taking a cue from the British band's maverick marketing for "In Rainbows" (read review) and mulling whether to abandon old-fashioned business models.

Likewise, the traditional dominance of radio is increasingly rivaled by other media. And who knows, if TV shows (like "Grey's Anatomy") and hip ad campaigns (from Old Navy to Volkswagen) continue to break new artists more successfully than radio, musicians may even start composing songs that reference specific characters and plot lines, in a bid to ensure prominent soundtrack placement.

Here's our look ahead at what's coming on stage, as well as behind the scenes. 

LIVE MUSIC

Tours: Radiohead fans have to roll with the punches; earlier in January, the band announced which 22 cities it would play on its two-part North American trek (with the halves interrupted by summer dates in the United Kingdom and Europe), but they didn't release specific venues or dates.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, still riding high from the left-field commercial and critical triumph of their collaborative "Raising Sand" album (read review), have also been stingy with details, naming just a handful of April dates on U.S. shores, while keeping mum on details about a longer haul in June and July.

Other Artists Are Being More Cooperative: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will kick off their world tour in Hartford, Conn., on Feb. 28, spend much of the summer overseas, then wrap up with a three-night stand at Giants Stadium in late July. Speaking of New Jersey, Bon Jovi have wisely tapped Daughtry to support them on the American stretch of their global tour; that double-fisted bill kicks off Feb. 18 in Omaha, Neb., and concludes in Atlanta on April 30.

And Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, flush with their superstar profile during the Super Bowl halftime show, have unveiled a major North American tour that starts May 30 in Grand Rapids, Mich., and winds through 36 venues before it wraps Aug. 29 in Woodlands, Texas.

Festivals: Coachella 2008 unveiled its lineup in late January; the three-day extravaganza, April 25 to 27 at Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif., will feature headline slots by Roger Waters, Jack Johnson and the first U.S. appearance by Portishead in almost 10 years. Also on that bill: the recently reconstituted Verve, Death Cab for Cutie, Kraftwerk and Love and Rockets. (The Coachella promoters, AEG Live/Goldenvoice, will also roll out a new East Coast event, the All Points West Music & Arts Festival, Aug. 8 to 10, at New Jersey's Liberty State Park.)

If country music is more your bag, the Internet is already abuzz with full-service travel packages for CMA Music Festival 2008 -- aka Fan Fair -- June 5 to 8 in Nashville, Tenn.

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