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NBC's Nightly News anchor, Brian Williams -- BriWi, as he's known to the kids -- is charming, hard-hitting and now, apparently, totally indie.

NBC recently launched "BriTunes" -- an iTunes promoting, well-intended though less in-touch, version of what ABC's Dan Harris launched back in April with "Amplified."

Okay, so I didn't name this thing, but I did come up with the idea. 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. --Brian Williams


But while we love an opportunity to shamelessly indulge our BriWi crush, BriTunes doesn't deliver the best the web has to offer in terms of indie music blogs, video interviews and so on.

For one thing, BriTunes runs like a glorified iTunes plug (seriously, there are screen shots) and of course, featuring "up and coming" bands talking about the internet's role in indie music is about a five year old concept. The result ends up a tepid chat about concepts no longer relevant in indie music -- Brian may love a good Deer Tick jam, but it's obvious he isn't knowledgeable about what the band is facing in the industry.



However, it's worth mentioning that "indie" is a somewhat relative term in music these days. Indie darlings, The Dodos, are on a Miller Chill ad, and Brooklyn's favorite house-show duo, Matt and Kim, are now pimping Bacardi, so who are we to say that the charming BriWi can't talk the nebulous concept of "fame" with the Providence, RI twang-rockers?

We'll leave it up to you.

Check out the inaugural BriTunes video below.


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And for a little more context, check out ABC's lesser known but slightly more substantive version here.