How many of you joyless, digital generation downloaders actually own a CD? Or even an LP? Because let's face it, you probably place more importance in the prestige of your shiny (gremlin-prone) iPod than in the music that's on it, right? Click click click, download a few megabytes of sound and play it back as an inferior MP3. Oh, sure, you can hear a lot more music at once (without having to undertake the crippling, ardous task of actually changing a disc) but what you have, my friend, is quantity over quality. And no one else can see what you're listening to. Those tricks you bring home (or even, miracle of miracles, a date) can't fick through your collection to see what they're getting themselves into. Are you in a Lupe Fiasco, or a 50 Center? A Kylie bitch, or Angie Stoned? Do you grind to Usher, or D'Angelo? Downloading music might have its advantages, but it's still tedious and unreliable. I hate it. It's the same as chatting to people online when you have no intention of meeting them - it's insincere. There's nothing like having a nice, shiny CD with a real cover and a real booklet, with real design. If I really love an album, I'll even hunt down the vinyl LP. And so, even though I don't own a record player, I have 12" LPs of D'Angelo's Voodoo, Maxwell's Embrya and Real Things by, ahem, 2 Unlimited. They look good - does the Windows icon representing Umbrella do anything for you?
It seems like I'm not the only one who feels this way either. Despite this, sales of CDs plummeted 10% last year (which is quite a lot, you know), and HMV has indicated that it aims to concentrate on the gaming market in the future.
I can actually remember buying my first CD (Annie Lennox's Medusa in 1995 - I was a late bloomer). Will the present generation of square-eyed geeks look back fondly on their first iTune? I don't think so somehow...
I'm glad you wrote about this as so many of my friends spend copious amounts of pounds buying songs from iTunes and think its amazing.
ReplyDeleteTo me there's nothing better than owning a CD or LP(even I have a few..). Flicking though the sleeve and reading the credits is half the fun to me, cos i'm a bit of a neek and like seeing who the engineer was and who did backings and that sort of shit.
Youtube and mp3's are ruining the music industry. Labels are now using 360 management on UK artists to make sure they gain a profit, which I think is a fuckery. But they don't know what else to do..neither do I..
*shucks* glad you liked the post. Thanks for the comment!!
ReplyDeleteHmm... your friends won't think their MP3s are so amazing when something happens to their iPod or their computer... And what is 360 management? lol...
lol yeah true. I too would be pissed if my iPod broke, but thats why I buy every album I like.
ReplyDelete360 managementis when labels own a percentage of everything to do with an artist..like ringtone sales, t shirts, touring. I guess its the only way labels can justify signing an artist now..but then again, major labels were never about spreading music to the masses.
im blabbing anyway lol