Music | June 12, 2008 | Comment on this video (14)

Why Albums Used To Matter

illdoctrine
What studying Radiohead (and licking pieces of vinyl) can teach us about the future of the music business.
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14 comments // Why Albums Used To Matter // Video

  • blenz
    • 0
      blenz  

    • Hmm. I think there's always a generational gap with new technology changing the way we're used to doing things. While I can remember running to the local record store to get in line for my favorite band's new album, I can also remember a lot of times where a friend made me a mixed CD from his or her itunes. The ritual is changing to meet the needs of a new media, but the tradition ultimately remains the same. PS - Thanks for offering truly compelling content on Current TV!

    • 3 years ago
  • huntre
  • jenvargas
    • 0
      jenvargas  

    • It's such a catch-22. Sure! You want to be heard, and in more than just your local market, but you also want to be able to make a living at what you love.

      Downloading music for free via BitTorents and other P2P sites is crazy convenient and will spread your word like wildfire, but you won't bank a thing.

      iTunes is not only convenient and regulated but is not free - and it shouldn't be. There are deals to be had on iTunes though; sometimes the album price (and possibly the artist's entire catalog) is much lower than in the physical marketplace and the 'complete your album option' is pretty cool if you've already purchased previous tracks - but who really profits there? It's in the same vein as eBAY/PayPal. EBAY will get you out there, but both will share in your bottom line. That's not including agents, producers, etc.

      No matter what, there's always a cost in everything advertising, but how do the upstarts get the fanbase. MySpace is awesome for this without a doubt, but what if MySpace never came along? How might that have affected the industry, and more importantly, society?

    • 3 years ago
  • rodiggity
    • 0
      rodiggity  

    • to let youself know that you 'copped' a new record, YOU GOT IT.. the physical aspect of album coppin' was hot because you get to see all walks of life when you get to that release and it's not only YOU who loved it, there's others too.

    • 3 years ago
  • cheakywillie
    • 0
      cheakywillie  

    • great pod and ideas,
      i love my records, and would never give them up, and before anyone says anything, i still buy vinyl for my home collection at actual record stores
      but speaking from a DJ point of view
      it is not worth going to a record store to buy an album or a cd if i am going to playing said music out...the reason being is the fact that when traveling it becomes cumbersome and fiscally it makes sense to me to buy the digital version( only with good encryption rates)...
      but audiophiles will always crave the plastic analog way of listening to music, whether it be tape or a record

    • 3 years ago
  • AnaMireles
    • 0
      AnaMireles  

    • I believe in downloading music to hear what I'm getting, but if I'm going to keep it then I should pay for it. Music is like any other good or service, why should we get something for nothing?

    • 3 years ago
  • crashbangnoises
    • 0
      crashbangnoises  

    • sorry owwnmykneecap but to quote you "it may be illegal, but it is not stealing." This negates itself. However, I do see what your saying. If you copied my car, sure you would not be stealing from me but you would be stealing from the dealership down the block a.k.a. "the record store" which is what I was directing my statement at. I do believe times are changing and the dream of making a living by selling records independently is surely fading. I think downloading music is a great way to find bands that are amazing and would never get other kinds of air-play. Looking at it from a social standpoint, it is not like searching for a band was impossible in the past and the word of an actual human mouth can sometimes spark great conversation. much love.

    • 3 years ago
  • _Hayko
    • 0
      _Hayko  

    • The pinstripe mofos who run music labels have no clue; being able to download (without paying) actually helps decent bands, whilst it makes sure people don't buy shitty albums from shitty bands. The second part is the one they don't like.

    • 3 years ago
  • crashbangnoises
    • 0
      crashbangnoises  

    • people who still love music still buy records but it is not enough to keep record stores alive. Illegally downloading music is kind of like going to a grocery store and stealing bread. They will keep putting bread out but eventually they are going to not make any money then stop putting bread out and then you are going to go in for some bread and there won't be any. Then you end up starving.

    • 3 years ago
  • tainerz
    • 0
      tainerz  
    • crashbangnoises:

      Mostly true, but they NEED to adapt because business logic would assume the bread company isn't going to stop making bread as long as people are willing to eat it. That just means the store needs to either be willing to change its strategy or be willing to let go...

      What I mean is the music industry is just a corporate masquerade of a hustle, plain and simple. But when fans aren't willing to lose their money to three-card-Monty anymore their screwed, and they know it.... their problem is WE have to be willing to play for them to get paid!

      All they do and all they have ever done, is to bully starving musicians with hopes of reaching a larger audience into signing over the rights to a song, logos, and lyrics, which the Label didn't create but now owns, for the sole purpose of being able to mass produce the CD's and promote on a nation wide scale, to finally legally leach off the success and skim off a cut. Then the Label dilutes, I mean helps 'produce' the artists intentions for maximum sales.

      They book the band and crew to be on a six-month tour to sell t-shirts and such, while they count the cash back home. The more sponsor deals, action figures and poster sales the better. After which they divide the money to a point, just enough to let the musician nibble the crumbs of it's beard and receive mild fame. If you can't sell, expect a boot to the curb not a contract extension.

      Like a cracked-hood's pimp, all they are is a snowball of money and connections we don't need! Now with mp3's and downloads already available on every corner of the net, both legal and 'illegal', their hustle is all but almost obsolete. They can conform, or not!

      http://www.demonbaby.com/blog/2007/10/when-pigs-fly-death-of-oink-birth-of.html

      This is an excellent article about the music industry and its fight for survival in the digital age. It also covers other interesting anecdotes like how as a result of downloading its has created an increase to a fans availability, variety, and consequently taste for music, which has never been tangible, until now. It reviews the downfall of Oink, the invite only private sharing community that was everything Napster dreamed to be, offering a faster, top quality, majority of titles completely diverse over a more efficient and safe network; that in it's review, the smarter more strategic move is that record company's and music industry big wigs alike, should have used and abused Oink's potential resources and access to their benefit, in interest to their longevity in the game. What they did, however, is make a haste kamikaze move, white knuckling legal files aiming straight for a coup'.

      When greed surpasses profits and diverges current trend, it creates a sawing of the branch in which you sit, sort of delema. This is exactly why we aren't turning back to the good old boy's, good old ways any time soon.

    • 3 years ago
  • KCKate
  • tainerz
  • CharlieG
    • 0
      CharlieG  

    • The downloads I've been hearing lately I don't know if you could call them "music"...I don't think they would have made it to vinyl

    • 3 years ago
  • leahl
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