Musically speaking, the next few weeks are going to be a lot more interesting than they usually are at this time of the year. And they're definitely going to be more controversial.

Why? The same stuff that caused so much controversy last year — Eminem and Napster.

Wednesday brings the Grammy Awards. They're always given out in February, but they're rarely as noteworthy as they are in 2001. Every year millions watch the Grammys and then immediately forget about them the next morning, but this year the show is drawing fire from all over the political map. The National Organization for Women (NOW) and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) have both said they'll protest outside of the Staples Center, the home to this year's Grammys, before the show.

The reason? What else — Eminem.

The most hated man in hip-hop is nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy and is scheduled to perform at the awards ceremony as well. Amazingly, his partner when he performs "Stan" won't be his usual guest on the song, Dido, but rather the openly bisexual Elton John.

GLAAD is furious that John has agreed to perform with Eminem, arguing that John's appearance validates the homophobia that's scattered all over Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP.

The John/Eminem duet is definitely an unnerving prospect, but it's not really a surprising one. John, while a brilliant musician, has always been a music industry shill and in the past has gladly shaken hands with the same people who insult his sexuality on record. He's shared the stage with the gay bashers Guns N' Roses, so no one should be shocked that he's agreed to work with Eminem.

The same night that John endorses Eminem's homophobia, there's a very good chance the music industry will celebrate Slim Shady's misogyny. On Marshall Mathers, Eminem beats his wife, discards her dead body and rapes his mother, and for that the album is the front-runner for Album of the Year.

NOW has every right to be upset.

Marshall Mathers is sonically superb. And Eminem on the album wields words with more dexterity than any of the other great MCs who released albums last year, topping the verbal skills of Common, Talib Kweli, Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah and Big Boi and Dré of Outkast.

But the album is still a disgusting vehicle for hate, and handing it the Grammy would be a slap in the face to anyone who's ever been a victim of domestic violence.

Unfortunately, Eminem will probably win the award. Half of his competition — Radiohead and Beck — is decidedly un-Grammy. Radiohead's Kid A doesn't sound commercial enough and no one bought Beck's Midnite Vultures. Paul Simon, a music industry favorite, is also nominated, but his You're the One isn't on par with the best work of his career.

The only other Grammy-friendly contender is Steely Dan, which doesn't really deserve to win either. Steely Dan's Two Against Nature is technically proficient and radio-friendly, but it's still Steely Dan, which means it isn't very good. I hope I turn out to be wrong, but Eminem is clearly the favorite to win.

After the Grammys controversy dies down, more rock 'n' roll controversy will likely start up, this time thanks to Napster.

By now, everyone knows that a federal appeals court ruled against the popular music-sharing service on nearly every point of law at issue. But no one, from computer industry scribes to legal experts, has a clue when exactly the site is going down, if in fact it goes down at all.

Representatives of the music industry are claiming this as a huge victory, but they're fools if they don't settle with Napster.

The shutting down of Napster will turn millions of record-buying kids further against the record industry, and alienating every one of your customers is not smart business. Record buyers already think the music industry is evil. Their opinions aren't likely to change if Napster goes down completely.

Yes, Napster is just as wicked as the music business. Napster founder Shawn Fanning isn't a music geek, he just plays one on TV.

He's wisely built an empire out of anti-corporate rhetoric and socialist pleas that all music should be shared and free. Meanwhile, he's using the same monopolistic, capitalist practices as the record companies he's preaching against, working to build his 50,000,000-user clientele to an even larger number before filing for an IPO and striking it rich, all without paying any musicians.

But Napster has a ridiculous number of satisfied users, and by buying Napster out, the record industry can tap into that market and control the digital market like it's controlled the sales of records and CDs. Shutting Napster down won't drive people to record company-owned Web sites. Rather, people will just keep buying music in stores and find other ways to distribute MP3s. The music industry, if it has any desire to survive, needs to settle with Napster, set up a subscription-based service, and work from there. No one is ever going to go to www.sonymusic.com and pay a dollar per song.

In the meantime, enjoy your downloading, because there are still a few days — maybe a few weeks — until Napster goes down. After that, get ready to start buying CDs again.