Top brands give voice to new bands

Lifestyle brands are becoming the new record labels.

In the latest twist in pop's relationship with corporate America, a studio rising in New York is being built by Converse, which will let artists record free.

A shoe company giving away studio time might seem peculiar. But with its new project, Converse �?whose sneakers have been worn by the Ramones and the Strokes �?wants to become a patron of the rock arts. The company is not alone: "Artists are finding the only way to achieve any financial safety is to become a lapdog of the great corporations," said the author and media critic Douglas Rushkoff, "just like the great painters did in the Renaissance."