Do you ever get the feeling that when you go to Best Buy or your local used CD shop to buy a CD that you are the last of a dying breed? Physically going to the store and purchasing a CD is becoming a thing of the past, much like going to the Pizza Hut and actually sitting down and enjoying a pizza that you ordered from your table. Where we have now made ordering pizzas from home the dominant method to get a pie, we have made downloading (I am talking about the legal kind people) the quick, easy, order from your desktop method of choice for getting our music. I know it’s silly, but I still get a kick out of hitting the store on Tuesday lunch breaks to nab the disc that I have been waiting for. Such a routine suffers when you just log-on and download. Don’t get me wrong, I do like my Ipod. I like the flexibility and convenience that downloading affords me, in fact, I prefer it. I like some of the big-picture aspects that this digital revolution represents as well. For bands that have a hard time getting a record deal or achieving mainstream success, making their music available digitally helps them stay afloat and make money from their music, where in the past, they wouldn’t have even gotten the CD distributed to local outlets, let alone the big boys (Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, etc…). We can go onto many bands myspace pages and order tracks from their page, thanks to Snocap. Band websites are now the primary retailers for many great acts newest releases. Nashville great Jamey Johnson has bucked the Nashville CD machine by releasing his latest offering on his own site. As an accomplished writer and performer with some hits to his credit, Johnson could could help usher in a massive shift in the way that Nashville works commercially. The main benefits of record contracts are free studio time to record, distribution and promotion for new releases and financial support for touring (for some artists, not all). With the advent of Pro-Tools recording equipment, more studios popping up by the day and self promotion via the internet as viable and profitable as it has ever been, studios are beginning to face the new dawn of life without the artist needing the label more than the label needs the artist. There are many labels now opening up that are only producing digital albums. Without the overhead of CD production and distribution, the artist sees more of the money made from sales. I have been waiting for some time to see if a top-name, platinum-selling band or artist would take their own swipe at the money bags long held by the major labels. While small swipes have been made by bands selling live track downloads and other smaller releases, nothing major had been announced until last week. One of the worlds foremost and respected rock bands, Radiohead, announced that they had not only just finished their upcoming CD, but it would be released this week, only digitally (except for a deluxe gift set available later this year), and at a price that the buyer got to name (I paid 2.5 pounds). If that sounds like something that you wouldn’t expect from Arista or Universal, you’d be right. Radiohead added to their earth-shattering announcement that they were releasing and marketing the album sans a label contract, completely on their own via their website. It has proven to be wildly successful and many expect the sales figures to be large enough to show other bands incentive enough to follow suit. Just today, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails announced the separation of his band from their major label, and he intimated that his bands next release would be handled by the band as well. Radiohead and NIN are big-time bands that have millions in the bank and do not represent the majority of bands looking for their niche in today’s music buying world. Ned from Ned Van Go told me last month that he welcomes such a change in the music business climate as bands such as his benefit from having such commerical control over their product. As for me, I can live with the notion of there being no CD section at Best Buy to hit on my Tuesday lunch breaks, because sooner or later there won’t be a CD player in my car to play the wierd, shiny discs. Cars will only be equipped with mp3 players and run on jet fuel, as we will all be flying our cars by the year 2010.
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Sep. 22, 2010 / 1 Comments
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2 Responses
I like the tangibility of picking up a CD at the store. I like thumbing through the liner notes. I like flipping through my CD cases and seeing unique, discernable artwork. I like the concept of a complete album and I don’t like that mp3′s might/will help usher in the demise of albums as an artform.
I too, like the flexibility and convenience that downloading affords me, but I also find that often times music I download doesn’t get listened to as much as the actual CDs I buy, but that could be attributed to my listening habits. I just hope there is some way the two can exist in harmony.
BTW, Madonna is pondering leaving Warner Bros. for Live Nation.
I am so with you on each aspect of your comment. I do love the entire ritual and tangible aspects to the purchase and listening of the cd. I also think that there is something to be said for having something concrete in your hand after paying money for it. Chet Flippo has said a million times that the labels have not been quick enough in dealing with this digital avenue, instead looking upon it as an enemy or challenger to their own interests, and that the labels have been in denial, hopefully that is changing and harmony can be achieved, because there is an audience for both methods.