It seems that anyone has unlimited access to new music even before it has been released to the public using products such as limewire, winmx etc. (i know those applications are old by now but just for example). People wishing to leak new albums should be more than welcome to but in a way it has been killing our once avid record buying culture.
This is nothing new, and im not the first person to bring this up im sure, however there are always two sides, and depending on which way you lean. Whether you approve or disapprove, the digital revolution well entrenched in our multimedia world is ever prominent today.
Metallica will release death magnetic on September 13. Material from this has well been kept under wraps but some of the material has leaked onto the internet prior to the worldwide exposure it will receive on official release day.
Albums for me are an event, I am a record buyer. And there's nothing I find more exciting than waiting for the day I can obtain a copy of the latest album i've been waiting for and anticipating for so long.
Some people couldn't really give a fuck about that. And if it's worth purchasing at full retail, then they'll buy it after they have heard all the mp3 tracks off limewire.
Rightly so, i mean the era of artists producing consistently great material all the way through an album is gone right? Well again that's subjective.
The ipod generation will forever be ensconced in a $1.69 bang for your buck counter culture which diminshes any integrity the art form once had.
But you are always going to have people who are going to buy albums, and respect great singer songwriters and musicians, and people who when asked what their favourite cd is will reply
"VB Slab of Rock Vol 1" or "Now Summer 08". It's crass it really is, those people make me sick to my stomach. I cannot defend these guys watsoever.
Wat are you going to do in 10 years time, you will go into a download store, there will be no covers, no artwork there will lcd displays of album artwork, and the cost of the mp3 format files to download to your thumb drive or mp3 player. You'll pay using an account card with a tab on it, and no money will change hands.
similar to purchasing photos now, no dark rooms anymore, you sit at a kiosk for a half hour select what you want and get them processed automatically. The search for the perfect image and/or shot is lost because jpgs are seen as disposable. Just as mp3's will become, disposable.
Artists will become disposable, youtube five minutes of fame, record deal denying them of any artistic contribution, alcohol abuse and methodone clinics will follow, career over, start again let's find another victim to exploit.
I was pacing up and down the morning Hail To the Thief by Radiohead came out. I couldn't wait, when i bought it i
held that puppy up and claimed it as mine. It's something i can hold, i can't hold mp3's, i can hold my ipod and know the contents in it are music, but that's the difference for me the visual aspect of it.
the certain moments in pop history have been accentuated in our minds by the fact that albums that these artists produced (e.g Beatles, Rolling Stones, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell etc.) had terrific artwork, and was responsible for their longievity and success.
That is in the past, and in the future, say 2036, we will have thumb drives implanted in our brains and we'll be able to access mp3 music whenever we like, as far fetched as you can get.
Digital music samples the nature of the sound, tape and records you can hear the sound as it was captured, with wax it sounds raw and gives the sound an edge that digital otherwise lacks. Some people can appreciate this, but in the contemporary world of the medium, it is all made with protools.
Soulja Boy may not even have to utter an audible word to make a full length album now. And whatever shit he is saying will be autotuned and slated for release the next week. dumb fuck.
"WW na ya boiy an cd an there one good song o it, res r sheeat" sound familiar then you've come across a dumb bastard who knows nothing about music and in that case itunes is ideal because they can just buy the single, and not worry about embarassing themselves at the music store when they ask for the new Kid Rock single, I mean come on!
Tread carefully when it comes to music, I am fairly appreciative and respect anyone's taste whatever it may be, it will not condemn you much if you like something that not everyone agrees with. I can't help but wonder though will people start to believe in the album as art form again?
I think about it all the time, there are a lot of good albums coming out, but i hope that digital music isn't shredding these musical ideas up and providing them for you in an easy-to-consume, readers digest edition so that you can enjoy your musical experience without hearing what the artist really has to say..
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