Downloads mean fans ignore albums

Theage.com (au) ^ | 1/5/04 | Thor Christensen

[dmz]

Even the lowest paid musician spends more on parties a week than I make in a year at a really good job.
________

I am sorry, but you are (IMHO) wrong on this count. There's a whole world of music totally set apart from the pop world, and they are not making a ton of money. They are the ones you should be supporting.

I know I am.

[weegee]

"It's like, 'How much music can I cram on there?' and the albums just get weaker and weaker," says Joe Levy, a Rolling Stone senior editor who helped compile the magazine's recent "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" issue.

Like, aw man, dude....

That list in Rolling Stone had so much fat in it. Got to have "something" in it for everyone. Not something for all tastes but rather something so that everyone will feel that their own tastes are justified. Rolling Stone wouldn't know good music from Muzak, let alone good NEW recordings.

Additionally I've heard radio ads bragging that some Warner Bros. online service is selling all of those titles on CD.
- Does WB publish Rolling Stone?
- How many of their CDs make up the final list?
- Are there ANY great albums that are not currently available on CD and were they excluded from being "good" simply because they are unavailable?

I've challenged RS's inclusion of greatest hits "albums" since they aren't albums in the traditional sense. Might as well recommend boxed sets too if you are going to go that route.

[longtermmemmory]

It seems the album is more an accounting trick rather than an artistic expression these days. They get to spread the costs across all songs in an album vs one hit or miss. This is no different than the movie studios spreading the winning movie proffits across to the loosing movies.

[Shethink13]

"We conceive entire albums, and I'm not gonna give it to you in any other form than the one I conceive. ... You can dissect it after that if you want, but at least you have to respect our choice."

Well, isn't that exactly what file-sharing is about? Someone purchases the album, dissects it and downloads the popular song files. So, what's his problem?

[weegee]

But the psychedelic '60s turned that upside down. With the Beatles and Bob Dylan knocking out songs at a rapid-fire clip, the 33-rpm album became the best way to get them to the marketplace.

Spurred on by free-form FM radio, musicians started writing longer songs and weaving whole albums around a musical or lyrical theme: The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Who's rock opera Tommy (1969), Marvin Gaye's socially conscious What's Going On (1971).

Besides concept albums was also the addition of monster length cuts (8 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes). FM radio would play these longer cuts (and in stereo) as broadcasters went from AM only to AM and FM.

There are still concept albums today. Some performers are ridiculed for them; really it depends on the concept and the quality of the songs. Commercial radio music largely stinks today (there are very few shining examples of any risk or rock being played on commercial radio).

[dmz]

It's funny, though, in 6 months I'll return to record I have previously played the $hit out of, and really like all the songs I skipped before.

Go figure.

Wilco's new record is apparently done, according to my buddy who routinely checks their web site.

[longtermmemmory]

If we are not careful Southpark is going to make fun of us too... (too bad I like that show. One of the few comedies with brains.)

[weegee]

"I've never found an album - even a Beatles album - where every song on it was great," says B.B. King, who now listens to his favourite tunes on an MP3 player.

He should get out more then. What is he listening to? Covers of standards? Even Clarence Gatemouth Brown is able to incorporate new arangements of other peoples' songs into an album and turn out some pheonomenal work.

Name dropping and technology hyping but it doesn't really say much.

Should the 2 instrumental cuts be dropped from the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds?

[Charles Martel]

Don't buy any new music - period. Get old classical, blues, big band, jazz, R&B, crooners like sinatra, Bach, Opera, funk, bluegrass, Bob Wills, etc. Now if I can find a way to record stuff on my computer that plays on the internet radio stations, I'm set for life.

It's not just about denying the RIAA their "cut", either... older music is selling better than the new stuff. An example is Rod Stewart's "Great American Songbook", Volumes I and II. My wife wanted it for Christmas, so I grudgingly put a few coins in the RIAA's pocket (as I do whenever I purchase CD-R media). I am personally not a Rod Stewart fan, but I like the material that he included on those two discs.

As for the internet radio issue, you might try Replay-Radio.com for software. It looks quite interesting.

[bc2]

most of my favorite bands scrape and get by on nothing so that they can release a record on a small indie label, drive around in a busted-ass van for 8 months playing tiny rock clubs where their gear gets stolen by some drunken moron, visiting local indie record stores to make sure they have their CD's, meeting the folks who buy their records and making their dream of being in a "real" rock band a reality.

I have more respect for these guys than any high-paid major label crybaby wank-offs with top 40 radio songs and parties at the Playboy mansion.

Not to mention their talent as songwriters and musicians.

[weegee]

I put my money in vinyl. Vinyl has resale value that CDs just don't have and the resale of downloaded tracks would depend on the agreement you click when you buy.

With a CD burner, I can put my new vinyl to CD and listen to it in both formats.

I bought the new Dirtbombs album this week (and it is probably the best rock album from last year). I hit a decision when I bought it; the CD had 2 bonus cuts not on the LP. The LP had a 45 enclosed that had 2 cuts not on the CD. The LP was $8.99 while the CD was $13.99. $5 difference for 2 different cuts? No hard choice there...

[lugsoul]

Have you heard the YHF demos? These are allegedly the record that existed before O'Rourke entered the picture. I very much liked YHF, but THIS is the record that keeps finding its way into my player. About 1/2 of the songs are the same, all of the arrangements and mixes are different. Actually, it is very similar to the live treatment the YHF songs have been getting. Good stuff.

[freedumb2003]

I can remember a handful of albums that were enjoyable from start to finish...

I think it will be possible to do a "Dark Side of the Moon" (or "the Wall" )or "Tommy" (or "Quadrophenia") but the industry will have to work harder to sell it that way.

Of course it will require a 100% artist turnover since there is not a new band extant that can come close to these (even the also-rans in parens)

[longtermmemmory]

There is a publicly available fix/repair which eliminates any restrictions on itunes music.

[weegee]

Music releases started out as singles: You could buy a bundle of 78s (they weighed about 20 lbs.) for an opera or other long work, but until the 50s and 33 rpm vinyl, the album did not exist.

Actually that book of 78s WAS an "album" of records.

When single disc platters came along they were LPs (Long Playing Record). Don't know when they got the name "album". In the 1950s, there were parallel releases of some titles on LP, 10" EP, and boxed sets of 45s (Capitol Records did this). They also dual released some 45 EP versions of albums in cardboard sleeves.

Now CDs are called albums and people still "dial" pushbutton phones.

P.S.: Not to quibble with your lineage (singles were still the original format) but even cylindars had 3 formats (which were not compatible) and the original flat platters had different designed grooves (Brunswick did make a combination tonearm that could be adjusted to play all 3 types of groove, a friend of mine has one). Even "78RPM" was a relative speed as some players are faster than others; my own turntable plays 33, 45, and 6 speeds of 78 (adjust it until it suits the ear).

[J. Byron]

""I haven't bought a newly-released album in ten years.""

"I have. Direct from the independent artists themselves."

You might want to read this article:
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/9/5/05113/70314

[weegee]

As I say, I picked up the new Dirtbombs album last week. It is dated 2003 but I think that it was JUST released. Great album; I love it.

I read about this album MONTHS ago online (but hadn't heard any of it). Some people were saying that it was already on several file sharing systems PRIOR TO RELEASE. Maybe this is why they chose to add 2 different cuts to the vinyl and CD versions.

That great praise I read about the forthcoming album piqued my interest. If I had just seen it in the stores without any feel for it, I may have passed it over.