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Post by The Curmudgeon on Mar 18, 2007 16:48:28 GMT 2
 I'll be the first to admit it - I never thought this downloadable music thing would take off. Illegal downloads, sure - people always want something for nothing. But the idea that people would embrace a notion where you PAY for music to be downloaded into your computer was something I thought would never be popular, and certainly not as popular as it is now. "Who wants to pay for music you don't physically OWN?" I thought. I mean, surely one of the basic pleasures of getting new music is actually holding it in your hand? As twee as it sounds, one of the fundamental joys of new music is paying for and finally OWNING the CD, flicking through the booklet or reading the lyric sheet or drooling over the pictures if its some pop totty. All of this is redundant with music downloads. Like a certain track, point and click, wait 60 seconds - it's on your hard-drive. Where's the fun in that? Music shouldn't be so faceless. Think of the generation we're raising, where the notion of album and singles sleeves are not only unimportant, but non-existent. Some of our cultures most famous iconic images have come from record sleeves. Think of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album, or Nirvana's Nevermind, or Prince's Purple Rain. Those words alone have put those images into your brain, whether or not you even like the records, you're seeing a bloke on a bike, a swimming baby and a big line up of people in costumes. Our culture has burned those covers into our very subconscious. Will we ever see the like of that again with the onslaught of digital downloads? CD Single sales have plummeted due to the ease and relative cheapness of downloads, and here's another reason that it's not all great - one of the best things about CD singles was buying it for the title track that you knew, and falling in love with the bonus track(s) on the single. Some artist's best, most character revealing work can be found on B-sides, safe from any commercial stress to put out "hits", an artist can be freed to show a more experimental or playful side, or even just to cover a much beloved song. With digital downloads you pay for the song you know and that's it. Bonus tracks, b-sides, whatever you want to call them, are again regarded as unimportant and are lost forever. The same could happen with album tracks. The ignorant notion of "buying an album when I only like one song on it" (which is frustratingly common, even if the rest of the album is as yet unheard) will rule. People will happily pay £0.79 for the single they like off the radio, and they won't have to bother with the other 11 tracks. Of course, album sales are still high so this hasn't happened yet, but hey, CD single sales were high once too. Digital music is easy and quick. But should music BE this easy? Shouldn't the trip to the shops, or even waiting for a CD to come through the post, be part of the process, that makes us APPRECIATE the records that we listen to? Downloading music can be like trying to hold water in your hands, you've got it for a few seconds then its gone and forgotten. Also, the music we listen to should be something we own, something we can hold in our hands, to look at and to cherish. Not just to bung on an I-Pod with 1000 other faceless tunes and be resigned to "shuffle" duties. And don't even get me started on the horrific notion of downloading movies. That's another rant for another day. For now - by all means have your I-Pods and MP3's for being out on the go - but remember to love, and keep buying, CD's, and the album art, CD art, B-sides, album tracks and hidden tracks that come with them. |
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Post by InvisibleWolfMan on Mar 18, 2007 16:50:09 GMT 2
The Curmudgeon,
I agree with you on this. I'm finding it so much nicer to actually go out and FIND an album. Why download? Sure, sometimes I'm faced with an option that I can't get a certain track any other way...but dammit...I like cover artwork! I like sleeves! I like inserts! I like special packaging gimmicks! I like seeing words to lyrics! I like seeing how many alias' Prince has written and produced his older material under!
Dare I say it, I even sometimes go out and find an LP! Just for kicks! Picked up THE SCANDALOUS SEX SUITE maxi recently (under £3...and not a re-print)! I've got the PURPLE RAIN album itself...sleeve and all! Also the SIGN 'O' THE TIMES double album! And AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY which weirdly had a minty group poster of Prince & The Revolution from the WHEN DOVES CRY video (from the moment when the camera pans up in the room near the end)!
Can you get that kind of stuff with a download? NO!!!!!!!!!!!
Mwwwwwhahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Ok...need my meds now. ;-)
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Post by The Curmudgeon on Mar 18, 2007 16:50:56 GMT 2
Hey, weird - I have all that stuff too, except the Scandalous maxi, which I got on CD.
Why do all the people who agree with The Curmudgeon need medication?
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Post by Ben on Mar 18, 2007 16:53:12 GMT 2
I occasionally download music, but it is all legal from Walmart.com. I enjoy cds a lot more, don't get me wrong, but I refuse to buy cds just for one song without first hearing the rest of the album, and most of the time the single is only available online. Not to mention overpriced. Therefore: I download the one song and wait for an album I really have to have.
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Post by stevie on Mar 18, 2007 17:27:30 GMT 2
i agree with you in that it's important to make those trips to the record shop or anticipate a great album coming out. but i don't have the money to buy every cd that comes out, so 85% of all my music is downloaded. illegal and free, how nature intended it. and of the remaining 15%, most of what i do buy is used. i rarely ever buy music brand new. which is why i don't feel bad about downloading it. if i buy the music, it'll be used and the record companies and artists won't see a penny of it anyway, so it's not like i'm really robbing them of money by downloading them. that's how i justify it.
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Post by trashcanman on May 8, 2007 23:18:47 GMT 2
I'm absolutely a big fan of the CD format and I think pirating things you really love is criminal. Not in the sense that the entertainment industry thinks so, but I feel that by supporting the things you like by purchasing them, you are helping perpetuate it. I mostly only download things I already bought, such as old tapes that are now obsolete and I can't afford to buy again, or things you can't easily get ahold of (runs of comics). But I always support the companies or artists that put out the things I want to see/hear and anyone who doesn't has no right to complain about how nobody makes quality entertainment anymore. Let's be grown-ups and keep pirating to a minimum, people.
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Post by The Curmudgeon on May 9, 2007 19:33:19 GMT 2
Oh hey, don't get me started on ILLEGAL downloads, Trashy. I'm talking about LEGAL shit - the amount of people I know that just steal every item of music they own is sickening. And trying to talk them out of it is pointless as well - they just don't get it. It's really quite tragic.
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Post by trashcanman on May 10, 2007 10:36:32 GMT 2
I don't know many who download legally, to tell the truth. Illegal downloads are extremely pervasive and a hot button issue here right now; corporations and artists are sueing college kids for millions, new technology keeps popping up to enable the kids to keep stealing through loopholes, it's a messy business. The general attitude among kids and young adults is that it's no big deal, but like I said earlier there are problems with not paying for the things you love, besides a few bucks out of corporate pockets. Other than the odd song off of Itunes, I'm all about the CD; downloads just don't hold much appeal for me when I can get the real thing, you know?
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Post by Norman Bates on May 10, 2007 19:43:58 GMT 2
I've actually began to download more things from legal sites, and its really opened my eyes (or is that ears?) to a whole new world of music. If I hear about a new band/artist then I'll buy a few odd tracks and if I like them I end up buying an album or whatever. In that sense downloads are great, but I agree with the Trashcan Man that you can't beat actually having a CD. If for nothing else a healthy CD collection is a nice conversation point for visitors. Sorry that sounded really lame, but hopefully you'll know what I mean!
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Post by InvisibleWolfMan on May 10, 2007 21:54:19 GMT 2
Hi guys! If I'm ever unsure about an album, I hunt it down in one of the local second hand trade shops and buy it dirt cheap. If I like it or not, then at least I got it for less. If I REALLY like it, then I'll gladly look u their other albums at the retail stores and buy them. I recently bought BILLIE HOLIDAY SINGIN' HER GREATEST SONGS from the second hand shop. Not only was it in great condition, not only was it inexpensive but it also contained her most hauntingly beautiful and controversial song STRANGE FRUIT. If you wish to know more about this song (and can handle viewing a "graphic" picture), please click the link below: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_FruitIt's one of the few songs that just brings tears to my eyes everytime. There is more honesty and hard hitting reality in that song than any rapper can dare touch in "street lyrics" these days. Best Regards, InvisibleWolfMan  |
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Post by The Curmudgeon on May 10, 2007 21:58:48 GMT 2
Woah. I'd heard of Billie Holiday but I had never heard of that song. Shit, they REALLY don't make stuff like that nowadays.
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Post by InvisibleWolfMan on May 13, 2007 1:37:53 GMT 2
Here are the lyrics:
STRANGE FRUIT by Abel Meeropole aka Lewis Allan
Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
Now tell me, doesn't that seem more hardcore than any rap song you've ever heard? 
Best Regards,
InvisibleWolfMan  (It's a sad thought, this song)
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Post by trashcanman on May 16, 2007 3:54:02 GMT 2
InvisibleWolfMan, that is harder core than EVERY rap song put together. Bitches and hos, my ass; that is some true american black culture right there. It's too bad that most are too stupid or scared to look that long and hard at where it is we came from as a nation.
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(It's a sad thought, this song)
