It Was Bound To Happen Sooner Or Later
September 25, 2008, Matthew Good There’s an article in today’s Telegraph about iTunes that I found interesting. In it, AC/DC are used as an example of a band that is against their material being made available on iTunes because the platform marginalizes the concept of a complete album.
The article begins by addressing the fact that Kid Rock, who had a worldwide hit this past summer, has sold in excess of two million copies of his current album without it, or the single, being available on iTunes. This, in turn, started the wheels turning at Warner, who then tried an experiment with an artists called Estelle. Realizing that her single was doing significant business on the US iTunes store but not selling nearly as many complete albums, they decided to pull the record from iTunes in the US entirely. As one might expect, the experiment backfired.
The reason? Estelle is not AC/DC nor Kid Rock, both of whom have established global fan bases that will purchase their releases at standard retail, even if to simply get their hands on a single song.
One of the most interesting quotes in the article came from Elbow’s lead singer Guy Garvey, who claimed that iTunes is responsible for the death of the album.
While the page dedicated to Elbow on Wikipedia claims that they have been together for 18 years, the reality is that Garvey was 16 in 1990, and that their first release did not come out until 2001. Thus, on a professional level, Garvey has had no real release experience with regards to an era in which album sales were still stable. The truth of the matter is that the industry itself is responsible for the death of the album, and the massive declination in sales in the mid to late 90’s proves that. It was the industry’s arrogance that ultimately drove the art of the complete album underground, with only an established sector of well known artists able to weather the storm.
When examining ‘the death of the album’, one must first look at the mechanism that had previously been seen as responsible for nurturing true career artists. As the industry struggled with declining sales, primarily because of the net, the development and dedication to such artists was almost entirely abandoned unless they were already established. Thus, the industry began to rely more on manufacturing artists, ones that needn’t necessarily possess staying power, but could provide them with immediate revenue bumps. This phenomenon led to a massive transformation at commercial radio, the death of music television as a truly creative promotional outlet, and the further mistrust of a music buying public that had grown tired of records that contained little more than one or two good songs.
The restrictions of genre also became a factor as well. Artists in various genres were urged to remain dedicated to those elements that had gained them notoriety and were commonly not supported by their labels to develop or risk altering their work in any significant way in fear of a loss in sales. Thus, artists ran their course and were simply replaced by something new and therefore ‘fresh’ in the minds of the public. Those artists that did attempt to change and grow routinely found themselves out in the cold - their sales languished, they received little support, and were stuck with a perception of failure even if their newer work proved that they were artists of real worth.
That’s not to say that there haven’t been artists that have lasted within the confines of the formulaic (many have for decades, AC/DC included), just that in those cases their sales are usually so globally significant that drastically altering their formulas would be extremely detrimental to them.
In a time when the album was being suffocated by the industry, iTunes offered the public an alternative. If a record contained only one or two good songs then they had the ability to buy them. But they have also always had the ability to preview the rest of the record. If an album is solid from front to back, if it is truly a complete piece, consumers have the ability to purchase it as a whole. And while I agree that we live in a day and age in which the art of the album has certainly declined, I disagree that iTunes is responsible for it. If the finger is to be pointed at anyone it should be pointed at the industry and those accountants-turned-music experts that were so ironically instrumental in its loss of monopoly. Their inability to change and adapt affected the perspective of an entire generation of music listeners, and they have no one but themselves to blame for it.
Getting back to the article - using AC/DC as an example is, in my opinion, ridiculous. AC/DC is a band that has sold hundreds of millions of records over the decades, can tour and fill arenas throughout the world on a yearly basis without even releasing a record to justify it, and has such dedicated fans that it doesn’t need the help of anyone to amass sales. They are, like the Rolling Stones, an entity unto themselves, an economic super-machine that can sell everything from shot glasses to coasters and make millions in the process without even releasing a record.
As many of you are aware, I am a diehard champion of albums as complete pieces of work. I have recorded numerous concept albums over the years, and have always believed that if an album as a whole cannot stand the test of time then, no matter its initial popularity, it isn’t of artistic significance. And I will openly admit now that I believe that maxim applies to my own work in numerous cases.
As for iTunes, a backlash was inevitable. It is now the biggest retailer in the United States and is about to become the biggest in the UK as well. It was only a matter of time before it was demonized, and behind that movement you will surely find the industry. The reason is simple enough – they don’t control iTunes, nor do they possess the ability to influence it as they do other formats. And for people that are used to getting their own way, that’s simply unacceptable.
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I concur, sir.
If not for iTunes and it’s never-ending “You might also like this” suggestion system (now known as Genius), I wouldn’t have a good chunk of the records in my collection today as I did when I installed the program back in 2004.
I’ve purchased a few complete albums through iTunes. I very rarely, if ever, buy just a song from iTunes. I still go out and buy a physical CD from time to time. I think I often end up buying the album on iTunes out of sheer convenience. But keep in mind that sometimes complete albums are not available on iTunes.
I think I actually still have a few things on vinyl. Alas, I don’t have a turntable to play them with. :-p
Quoting Matthew Good: ..
.”The reason is simple enough – they don’t control iTunes, nor do they possess the ability to influence it as they do other formats. And for people that are used to getting their own way, that’s simply unacceptable”…….
Exactly. They are opposed to the idea that the consumer should have the right to choose which format in which to purchase the artistic product…
I mean, for most people these days it seems more convenient to purchase online online for several reasons. We are living in a hi-techno world and coming to an age where CD’s will one day become obsolete, an outdated. I personally, still purchase solid albums in CD form for the sleeves/liner notes and artwork, etc. (Though they take up a considerable amount of room), but welcome the fact that we have the luxury of just going online to purchase music, whether it be as singles or as a complete work.
Matt makes a good point when saying it is not really ‘fair’ to use ACDC as an example, because as proven by Radiohead with the release of “In Rainbows”- it takes very little to effort promotionally to convince the masses to purchase any of their work. I mean, only a band with such financial stability backing them, could successfully offer their album up for free download (genius on their part), whereas such a concept would be completely detramental to (a) lesser known artist(s).
Speaking of Radiohead, I got this in an email today…Check out what the boys have up their sleeves now (Maybe this could one day be something you could do too Matt (depending on your opinion, but it could be fun!):
Quoting w.a.s.t.e.x :
“To coincide with asking radio stations to think about playing Reckoner we are breaking up the tune into pieces for you to remix. After the insane response we got from the Nude remix stems and the site that was dedicated to your remixes…
Unique visitors: 6,193,776, Page Views: 29,090,134, Hits: 58,340,512, Bandwidth: 10.666 Terabytes, Number of mixes: 2,252, Number of votes: 461,090, Number of track listens: 1,745,304
…we thought it only fair to do the same with a tune that at least is in 4/4. You can get the stems (the different instruments/elements) from here
Sample, cut, take the sounds, whatever. Play it in a club. Or your room. Then if you want you can upload your finished mixes to http://www.radioheadremix.com and be judged by everyone else. You can create a widget allowing votes from your own site, Facebook or MySpace to be sent through too. To start things off we asked James Holden and Diplo to do their versions.
Oh, and by the way, if you weren’t lucky enough to get your hands on one of our recycled plastic bottle shirts at a show this summer, you’ll be glad to hear we’ve made some more and they are available at the w.a.s.t.e. shop here
All at w.a.s.t.e x “
interesting article although i think its a combination of the industry killing the concept album first, and iTunes has contributed. and, Guy Garvey is the man, ELBOW to me is the best musical band out there, hands down. ELBOW is now considering not putting out full albums anymore, sad indeed.
I completely agree, and am also a strong advocate for complete albums. Many people have asked me what I think of downloading even off of programs like Limewire, and I have always told them that I only download a song from an album that only contains one or two good ones. I have, and never will, download an entire album for free. As an artist myself, I want to support the artist’s music and career, and if I like them I will purchase the album, usually in a hard copy format (I love to have physical albums, not just a file on my computer). That being said, now that ITunes is available, I don’t usually download even single songs for free. It has allowed the morally responsible in terms of piracy an honest way to purchase that single song from an album of, well, garbage.
I like iTunes and I am proud that Apple won’t be pushed around. XMRadio needs the power Apple has so they can tell the industry where to go!
I agree with the album as a piece of art itself. And yes, in the ’90’s I found the album was not a piece of art, but rather a collection. Reminds me of those chocolates you find in the stores during Christmas; some chocolates (songs) are good in the collection (album) and some are not. The overall package is not a piece of art.
Then you get albums that in their completeness add so much more to the musical experience of the listener. I would equate Pink Floyd’s the Wall to that mixed package of Lindt Lindor chocolates, the dark, the peanut, the white, the rich ones. You know the all four colours in a bag ones? No bad ones in that collection!
Not to sound all wishywashy, but Hospital Music is like that, as is Avalanche. For me they really flow and the entire album is a musical experience unto itself.
For me, I’d be happy if I could write something, even just a single or two, that people liked. Maybe someday!
“If the finger is to be pointed at anyone it should be pointed at the industry and those accountants-turned-music experts that were so ironically instrumental in its loss of monopoly. Their inability to change and adapt affected the perspective of an entire generation of music listeners, and they have no one but themselves to blame for it.”
Thank you. Don’t get me wrong, I listen to any and everything, and don’t get me wrong, a lot of it is crap (Juice Newton? WTF?) But still. Albums, to me, are pieces of art. The writing and music come together in a portrait, a painting of sorts. A good album never dies, and should be considered as much a piece of art as a painting, a novel, even a manifesto. In my utterly unrequested opinion, the intent should never be simply to make money, though I fully admit that I’ve absolutely no knowledge of the music industry or how this part works. Art is art, even when it “shakes you all night long.”
I still buy complete albums when I have heard the 3rd or 4th single on the radio. I’m all about radio.
I also feel that if an artist can get on the radio and be heard and people love that new sound of that new artist, they will either go out and buy the album or download it from iTunes.
Or, am I old school? For me, it’s all about what I hear on the radio. ie. I love the new Seether “Rise above this” so therefore, I will now either download it on iTunes or go buy it in store because it seems every song I hear by them is sweeeeet.
One of the things that I’m surprised never get mentioned with regards to CDs is their environmental impact. I love great albums. Ok Computer, Siamese Dream and other classics have gotten me through tough times in ways single songs couldn’t have. But, I am so happy to never have to buy another cd because of their environmental impact relative to a digital download. CDs require energy to make, plastic, gas to transport all around the world. In fact I’m surprised any artist with any sense of the state of our environment would ever even consider not making their work available for download. If they are concerned about needing to keep the sacredness of the album alive, then they just have to make the iTunes I be album only. o
I agree. The art of the complete Album has definitely declined. I’m a bit of an odd-ball among my circle of friends who are always trading individual tracks back and forth, in that I refuse to even add anything less than a complete album into iTunes. I currently have 757 Albums, so adding in a few hundred or thousand orphan tracks seems ridiculous to me if the album as a whole doesn’t have much merit when there are many wonderful things out there.
So, hear hear! Bring back the art of the lovely albums!
I can’t say how many albums I’ve bought only to play them and realize that only the radio releases were any good. And with many albums running over $20 I can understand why people would go to iTunes and just spend a few dollars on the couple of songs that are actually good on the disc. There are a very select few artists that are recording now that I know without a doubt that their album is going to be solid from start to finish and I would go out and buy the album without even hearing a single from it because I know that they’ve thought about the whole album and not just a catchy single.
I agree the industry is at fault here. Their fail safe way of making quick money by manufacturing artists that will have one good radio hit and an album full of filler and getting people to buy that $20 album is almost gone because now people have the option of just buying the one good single.
If there were great albums out there that I know without a doubt that I’d listen to 10 years from now I’d buy the album price be damned. Unfortunately most of these albums were made 30 years ago. I stopped buying albums a long time ago because my cd stands are full of dusty coasters already.
The albums that have never left my player are classics.
Hospital Music hasn’t left since I bought it on my way home from Vancouver back in September of 2007.
Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours…. I wish people put as much thought into their music as they do. This album is as good now as it was back then.
Damien Rice’s 9 and O are alongside Matt Good in the two artists that I’d always get their album because I know it’s always going to be a genuine effort from the first track to the last track.
And you can never ever go wrong with The Band.
Oh and I can’t believe ACDC sold out in 4 minutes; you’re totally right about that one (and the new song is a piece of crap- so there ya go). I am a huge fan but nope, won’t be buying that cd.
I am very much a full album type of person, and in my opinion, the majority of Matt’s records have been brilliant front to back.
I recently started up a things I like list on my blog, and one of the things I said was “How Beautiful Midnight is nine years old and still sounds as amazing and refreshing as it did when I was 14″.
It’s albums like that, Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (which almost never saw the light of day) and A Ghost is Born, Death Cab’s Transatlanticism that prove that in an age of the next flash in the pan that there are bands with amazing creativity and who also have the staying power to put out something new and exciting every few years.
I only purchase hard copies of music that I like and know I’ll continue to enjoy. If an album only contains 1 or 2 songs that I like, I don’t bother buying any of it because chances are they’re songs that will eventually get killed through radio play.
No offense to Matt, but I can’t listen to Hello Time Bomb, Load Me Up, Strange Days, Weapon, etc. - all due to excess radio play, not that they weren’t great songs to begin with and luckily all the other songs on the albums are very good writes that it was worth it to purchase the whole CD.
There are some albums I’ve found of songs that get extreme radio plays that have far better material on them than the soul song that was chosen for popularity points. I agree one hundred percent with what you’ve said Matt and I think you may have pointed this out via industry, but I’d like to add that a lot of artists who initially had great albums have also ruined it for other artists because often once a band has performed at it’s peak (as a whole), sometimes like to reinvent themselves and create new albums of little worth, IMO. Consumers purchase these CD’s hoping that it’ll be full of great content as per previous work and it turns out to be 1 or 2 songs of consistent radio play and the CD never hits the player again. It’s almost embarrassing that it’s even in your collection. There are tons of these bands that are like this and I, as a listener, appreciate the value of a good album (and good song) and often wish, as you’ve stated, that artists would put together “complete pieces of work” because I have no issues purchasing an album for its work and ingenuity, if that is in fact what it is.
I think that consumers are just trying to make better choices about where and how they want to spend their money and iTunes gives the people that choice. It’s not allowing industry to burn a hole in their pocket. While I’m all for artists making money, it’s also important that to make that money their producing quality workmanship, like a painter, or a sculptor would be paid for their quality. At least iTunes is giving them some money back for their work, whereas other companies are not.
AC/DC is planning on releasing their next album exclusively through Walmart so, you know, they’re probably not really in a position to be criticizing album distribution methods.
There will always be people who want to buy entire albums, and there will always be people who just want what they hear on the radio. They both should be able to buy what they want. There have always been singles… they had ‘em in vinyl, they had ‘em on cassette tapes, they had ‘em on CDs. The major thing that kept people from buying more singles in the past was cost; why pay $5 for a single when you can buy an entire album for $12? iTunes has simply made the cost of a single proportional to the cost of an album.
(Forgive my ignorance here… is the cut an artist gets from an iTunes single and/or album the same percentage as they receive from a physical album?)
[quote comment="66503"]I only purchase hard copies of music that I like and know I’ll continue to enjoy. If an album only contains 1 or 2 songs that I like, I don’t bother buying any of it because chances are they’re songs that will eventually get killed through radio play.
No offense to Matt, but I can’t listen to Hello Time Bomb, Load Me Up, Strange Days, Weapon, etc. - all due to excess radio play, not that they weren’t great songs to begin with and luckily all the other songs on the albums are very good writes that it was worth it to purchase the whole CD.
.[/quote]
I kill my own cd’s through ‘driving in the car’ overplay. And by Kill I mean ‘crank’.
ie. Strange Days still gives me chills, I play it EVERYDAY in the car and it IS a great song in my opinion.. not ‘wasn’t'…….. I am sure you didn’t really mean it that way though.
Becca, you can’t listen to Weapon? Well sorry dude, but you’re totally missing out then, because that song is classic and will never be the ’shook me all night long’ of this generation, that’s for sure.
Is it really that tough for these record companies to give distribution control to artists?
In our new world, bits and bytes rule. ‘On Demand’ is the mantra of the digital generation. I never liked Cd’s. Vinyl was great but of my 3000 albums, I could only move 80 with me around the country. That equates to approximately 700 songs. If it’s a choice between Cd or download, download wins every time. And soon, songs will be sold with no compression since file size will become irrelevant. The CD will truly be virtual.
I believe the variety of music has grown in this new age of music. And since it is so accessible, many more people are enjoying music in their lives. Maybe AC/DC and McCain should get together and talk about how great the 20th century was.
AC/DC is a really bad example.
Another bad example is a cover song that Kid Rock did that I presume sold better than the album… being that that song is so famous in the first place.
I’ve never heard of Estelle.
Elbow on the other hand I love. During a concert in Toronto Guy Garvey came into the crowd and danced with me. It was a really fun night.
I personally don’t buy iTunes music because I want the concept and artwork etc. but I understand the niche for it.
Anyway you’ve said it.
I think the creation of free downloadable music was not a bad thing, I mean bands have to work twice as hard to create a fan base, that will purcase their albums. there are literally only a handful of bands or artists that I will purchase their album now. no surprise matt good is one of them but thats neither here nor there.
I also think bands should go on tour before a single is even released, and then sell albums at the shows. that way the new stuff, fans are hearing for the first time, and pumped. maybe more albums would be sold that way
Like most things, there are good and bad points about Itunes and Major Labels and the biz in general. In the Golden Daze (60’s-’70’s), people were so eager to be signed, they usually sold their soul to the Majors. Today, I advise the “kids” to avoid the majors at all costs. If you go Indie and the Internets, you at least have control. You still need to build s base, but once you start getting one, ten people tell ten people etc. It all depends what you want to get out of music. If it’s just to become a star……good luck with that. If you love music as if it were , indeed, an art, it matters not how your music gets played. You will play because you have a need to play. If you are good, it’ll get heard. But don’t think music is an easy business. It is a very much “what have you done for me lately” business.
Which is way off the point……… Hey, I still buy vinyl! I want to be able to hold a product in my hands. I still do all my demo works on tape! By micing the cabs! No Amp Farms for me.
The genius of iTunes is that I can now own all (or most) of the one-hit wonder songs that I would never have spent money on an album to obtain. (Sorry, bad grammar - tired brain).
“And while I agree that we live in a day and age in which the art of the album has certainly declined, I disagree that iTunes is responsible for it.”
I completely agree; however it’s not just the big wigs in the head office that’s to blame. Absolutely nobody cares about the quality of music that hits the airwaves anymore - not even the artists half the time and the artists that do rarely see a true international stage.
Not to mention, in a related but slightly off topic mini-rant, the artists that do take care and release fantastic albums always seem to be Canadian - so not only do they have the wise judgments of the company executives to contend with, they also have Harper’s enthusiasm for next week’s Polaris Prize presentation on their side. >:(
Christ, music is fucked.
Honestly, I steal much of my music. Quite the cyber-theif am I, in fact - few bands are truly worth buying currently, in my opinion. Rest assured I did buy Avalanche and Hospital Music. And I always support all my favorite artists/bands by buying their better wrok and paying (usually a lot) to see them live.
I would disagree that the music industry itself is responsible for its own collapse. Even if the process of marginalizing holistic work (eg albums) began before the advent of the internet, the internet was indisputably the cause of its near-total collapse. Record sales have been hit devastatingly, up to ten times less or more in some instances. On the plus side some smaller bands have had a chance to succeed recently, even if it is now actually much harder to get a commercial record deal, purely because bands are able to distribute music to fans and arrange tours online, announce them to thousands with only a few clicks of a mouse. I feel that slowly a new period in music is emerging, one that when it finally takes hold I believe will be greatly superior to the pre-internet period. It is allowing bands to distribute their most creative work with no regard to how it sells, which is leading to some really interesting stuff, IMO.
Thank God for iTunes. It allowed me to purchase all of your material (except Beautiful Midnight – why is that?) at once, on the very first day that I ever heard ANY of your music. Late starter, I know, but sadly, UK radio hasn’t found you yet (despite my never-ending attempts / emails to DJs…I won’t give up :) and the manufactured CRAP they play day in, day out here is truly dire. The odd exceptions are Elbow (only when they have a new single though), Radiohead (ditto), Oasis (ditto) and occasional Foos. The rest is unbelievable claptrap. It then took me a while to import all MG releases on CD but, there you go.
iTunes has revealed the painful truth behind a lot of artists; that they can no longer reap the financial ‘rewards’ of an album that, in truth, only yields a couple of decent tracks with potboilers filling the voids. In the end, those albums that are bought in their entirety only end up being stripped of their better tracks while the others gather cobwebs anyway. No worries there Matt; your albums ARE, in the truest sense, complete.
I listened to Underdogs on the way home from work last night and it made my heart soar; it sounded so fresh, so alive, it could have been released yesterday….
Thank you, Matthew Good, for being so complete; we wouldn’t want you any other way.
[quote comment="66514"]Is it really that tough for these record companies to give distribution control to artists?[/quote]
Yes, the record companies MUST control it as it is the foundation of a monopoly (as in past). If an artist controls distribution in any way this unravels its control by the company (even if they own full legal rights there are many, many loopholes and problems. digital law is a big issue right now because once something hits the net even if the people holding the rights win a court case there is often nothing that can be done). For such a system to even work it would be necessary for individual artists to promote music more successfully than a media-saturated company promotion which is obviously very difficult. So that won’t happen - at least not any time soon, although I’m sure it will be tried on some level. If a company can get ahead by allowing some artist autonomy in that way then it could help give them the edge.
The best hope for the music industry is to get people going to expensive live events and buying an album as a keepsake (eg, if I fork out ~100$/concert I may as well get the 20-25$ album too, just sensible). In fact I recall reading somewhere many artists now make most of their money from tours. If record companies intend to continue competing they will need to dramatically restructure the way they promote music and the way in which it is bought. Through live events and online promotion may be lifelines for them in reviving the industry.
[quote comment="66512"][quote comment="66503"]I only purchase hard copies of music that I like and know I’ll continue to enjoy. If an album only contains 1 or 2 songs that I like, I don’t bother buying any of it because chances are they’re songs that will eventually get killed through radio play.
No offense to Matt, but I can’t listen to Hello Time Bomb, Load Me Up, Strange Days, Weapon, etc. - all due to excess radio play, not that they weren’t great songs to begin with and luckily all the other songs on the albums are very good writes that it was worth it to purchase the whole CD.
.[/quote]
I kill my own cd’s through ‘driving in the car’ overplay. And by Kill I mean ‘crank’.
ie. Strange Days still gives me chills, I play it EVERYDAY in the car and it IS a great song in my opinion.. not ‘wasn’t'…….. I am sure you didn’t really mean it that way though.
Becca, you can’t listen to Weapon? Well sorry dude, but you’re totally missing out then, because that song is classic and will never be the ’shook me all night long’ of this generation, that’s for sure.[/quote]
Don’t get me wrong…the above mentioned songs ARE great songs, if it wasn’t for those songs on the radio I would never have been privileged to hear Matthew Good Band or the Matthew Good thereafter, and it wasn’t meant to imply that everyone feels the same way I do, either. In fact, when I was signed over to the government by my parents, Strange Days was the song that got me through the whole group home/foster home deal, so by no means am I saying they suck…I just can’t listen anymore because of all the radio play. And Weapon is by far a great song…it reminds me of me but sometimes there can be overkill of great things. Like when you pounded back a mickey of straight liquor when you were in junior high and couldn’t drink or smell it again for years…
Given the number of tracks that have been downloaded through means other than iTunes, it is certainly ridiculous to put the blame on iTunes.
Another reason for the death of the album is not how people acquire music, but how they listen to it. The advent of digital music libraries has made it easy to create playlists that span albums, or even shuffle an entire music collection. I guess this started with CD changers back in the 90s? Now, I think a lot of people don’t listen to complete albums anymore, regardless of whether they have all the tracks. Even when they have purchased the CD, they simply rip the tracks into their media library and listen to them in whatever random order they get played. It’s unfortunate, because you definitely miss out that way.
Revisited raised a great question. One that I’m confused about myself. How does an artist get compensation from I-Tunes in relation to the traditional Industry-based compensation methods? From my understanding (limited understanding) an artist through the traditional sales methods gets like 5% from each CD sold. Is it the same on I-Tunes? Like 5 cents out of every song?
Obviously, Matt would know better than anyone here the difficulties of a musical artist actually getting compensated for their art in the age of downloading. I think there was a previous post some time ago about this topic.
I’ve purchased things on I-Tunes and I think it’s a great service and product. I still prefer to buy CD’s from the store and I’ve been collecting vinyl. Yes, some of my 421 store bought CD’s were not worth what I paid for them, but I’d feel awful if I didn’t buy Beautiful Midnight because I incorrectly thought the two songs I downloaded, Hello Time Bomb and Load Me Up, were going to be the only good ones on it.
The album concept still resonates with me, but I’m an old fart.
Great point generalzyx!
I’m a shuffle play addict! When there’s 2000 of my favourite songs on shuffle play it feels like I’m listening to a radio station just for me, where I don’t know what song is going to play next, but I know I’m going to know it and like it! Thinking like that does completely alter the music collecting experience.
ALTHOUGH, the good ones, the Hospital Musics, the Avalanches, the OK Computers, the Siamese Dreams still get played start to finish. But they’re the exception and not the rule.
“Used to roll around on the floor, get some Chinese Delivered…
Listen to Led Zeppelin 4, the White Album, Dookie, and the Bends on Shuffle Play”
just doesn’t have the same meaning.
[quote comment="66537"]Another reason for the death of the album is not how people acquire music, but how they listen to it. The advent of digital music libraries has made it easy to create playlists that span albums, or even shuffle an entire music collection. I guess this started with CD changers back in the 90s? Now, I think a lot of people don’t listen to complete albums anymore, regardless of whether they have all the tracks. Even when they have purchased the CD, they simply rip the tracks into their media library and listen to them in whatever random order they get played. It’s unfortunate, because you definitely miss out that way.[/quote]
I think this is a very good point. I know people who prefer the “self-made compilation” style of listening to music, picking favourite tracks from a wide variety of artists. I’ve made playlists on my iPod but I rarely use them because they’re just not as satisfying somehow. I need a bit of continuity so I much prefer listening to a single album or a single artist. (Putting one artist on random may not let you get the “complete album” experience, but it still makes sense to my ears that way, whereas I find skipping from artist to artist jarring).
Having worked in music retail through most of the 80s, I was in a great position to see the sea changes that were happening in the music industry. LPs and 45s with their scratches and pops gave way to cassettes with their hiss which gave way to CDs and their “cold” sound as compared to vinyl. Music marketing dollars and jobsMusic enthusiasts have always been behind these arguments for the best audio experience as well as been the loudest voices on trying to figure out what’s causing the demise of the music industry, while the majority of the listening public generally doesn’t care about the sonic experience or whether the artist is suffering from iTunes single sales vs being paid for a whole LP/CD. They just want the hit in the cheapest/fastest/easiest way they can get it, be it a 45, or a cassette single, or a download. There have always been playlists- we used to call them mixtapes. There’s always been free music- people made copies of their favorite tunes for friends. I don’t know if iTunes or Napster screwed artists any harder than the record companies- the bigwigs always screwed the artists until they had enough hits to have some leverage. iTunes simply screwed the old school record giants the same way they screwed the artists. Now that the technology exists for musicians to bypass the industry and independently put out their own quality releases, hopefully more musicians, young and old, will get savvy enough to realize this and put some money in their pockets. There are always going to be artists like Estelle who need a guiding hand- you can’t always be a musical talent AND business savvy. I think we’re still in a learning scenario and the game will continue to finesse itself as time goes by.
And my half-finished thought up there was Music marketing dollars and jobs began to disappear as the internet downloads started to eat away at the bigwig’s bottom line.
I’m still old school. I will always go buy the album of an artist I love and eagerly await new releases. I like the liner notes, the art, having the lyrics. I like to be able to hold it in my hand. (and yes, I obviously have all of yours) It’s a physical thing, and a respect thing. You built it, I’m gonna buy it.
I consider myself partially responsible for the death of the album in some ways, as a consumer I’ve always been drawn to the idea of trying before you buy. I will download an album and listen to it in it’s entirety before I purchase it. Of course, artists that I already like and support I buy immediately.
Yourself, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Wilco (at your suggestion).
Still, if I enjoy the music I prefer to buy the album. There’s something missing when you lack the album art.
But then again, I also have a ridiculous collection of vinyl, and I have no record player.
It’s the difference, I think, between real music fans and people who enjoy the occasional song. Unfortunately, those who look at music as an intellectual escapism are probably far outnumbered by casual listeners.
To me I-tunes is just an electronic extension of the old 45’s. I realize that a lot of people just go through the I-tunes store and pick songs from here and there, maybe end up with them on their i-pods and in many cases it is their only exposure to the artist. Too bad because the single is often very unlike the rest of the artists work - hand picked by the “accountants” that Matt eloquently describes above. I admit I bought a few 45’s in my day, but generally I’m an album guy as well; the vast majority of the time there is at least one little gem on an album that I never hear on radio, rarely gets played live by the artist, but there is something about it that I relate to and it often eclipses the “single” from the album in terms of a “favourite” of mine. “The Inescapable Us” and “Indestructable” have always been favourites of mine that probably would not have been chosen as singles. I want to chose - not the fucking accountants or music execs - they get in the way of the “link” that you acquire with the artist.
I must admit I have been a die-hard AC/DC fan for many years and have ruined more that one pair of car speakers because of them and when my wife and I were first married our first baby (a Golden Retriever) was named Angus. i can’t think of a band that puts together a rythm and lead guitar better.
While we’re on the subject I think Matt should consider incorporating cannons into his live show. There is also the striptease option along the lines of “Bad Boy Boogie.”
fireworks? swinging from rafters? breaking guitars?
not really matt’s style.
What about a giant blow up rosie doll?
[quote comment="66550"]I consider myself partially responsible for the death of the album in some ways, as a consumer I’ve always been drawn to the idea of trying before you buy. I will download an album and listen to it in it’s entirety before I purchase it. Of course, artists that I already like and support I buy immediately.
Yourself, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Wilco (at your suggestion).
Still, if I enjoy the music I prefer to buy the album. There’s something missing when you lack the album art.
[/quote]
I agree on the “try before you buy;” part of the problem with radio is the growing trend to find and CREATE “radio-friendly” songs. Artists are forced into making one or two tracks for each album that work well on the radio. If the A&R man doesn’t hear a single (to borrow from Tom Petty), the label won’t let the album hit the shelves. The problem is, the single may not be representative of the album as a whole, because they’re forced works that aren’t a part of the artist’s overall vision for the album. Who here hasn’t been suckered into buying an entire album at some point, based on a track they heard on the radio–only to find that the rest of the album is nothing like that single?
(I agree about the album art; I know iTunes lets you download album art if you buy an entire album, but it’s not the same. For the most part, I want the original CD with the original art on both the cover and the CD itself. I don’t ever want to have a collection of home-burned CDs with Sharpie writing all over them.)
[quote comment="66550"]I consider myself partially responsible for the death of the album in some ways, as a consumer I’ve always been drawn to the idea of trying before you buy. I will download an album and listen to it in it’s entirety before I purchase it. Of course, artists that I already like and support I buy immediately.
Yourself, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Wilco (at your suggestion).
Still, if I enjoy the music I prefer to buy the album. There’s something missing when you lack the album art.
But then again, I also have a ridiculous collection of vinyl, and I have no record player.
It’s the difference, I think, between real music fans and people who enjoy the occasional song. Unfortunately, those who look at music as an intellectual escapism are probably far outnumbered by casual listeners.[/quote]
Me too Lexy. My vinyl collection goes way back and is extensive…the first album I ever purchased was the Beatles (red) Greatest Hits compilation (1962-66) and I bought albums like a wild woman throughout my life and since then. But, like you, I have nowhere to play them anymore so I simply “treasure” them. :(
The problem is that some people (me) just don’t have the means to purchase iTunes material (o.k., am I the only one left in the world without a credit card?). I did try an iTunes card when they first came out, but it had a glitch and I returned it. So I feel that iTunes is a great option for some, but accessibility will be an issue for others who will be left out in the cold (thus eliminating the possible sales that could be achieved through retail outlets and hard copy).
I agree with general & ket to some degree as well….if I put on albums like Hospital Music, Pink Floyd’s Animals or LZ’s Physical Graffiti, I’m in for the long haul and there’s no “selecting” certain songs…they’re incomplete until I’ve heard them in their entirety. But in this age of hurriedness and the need for instant gratification, many people just don’t have the patience or attention span to commit to the experience of an entire album. So iTunes caters to that fact, as people can create their own playlists/compilations.
I still have cassettes tapes, as my music library went to that format for a very long period. Thank God my good ol’ Sony Walkman’s still kicking because I’ve recently discovered that much of that music is hard (impossible) to replace. It’s really poor quality listening, but I realize that some of this music may never be found again (my “Age Of Electric” with “Untitled” was just eaten up and I’ve been scrambling in an attempt to replace it. I shall really miss that on my bike rides). I guess that my point is that as the face of music distribution changes, some music slips through the cracks and seems to disappear into a black hole, never to be heard again. That deeply saddens (even worries) me. At least with albums you could scour through the new & used record stores and stumble across some real gems. I fear that some (of my favorite) music will simply be “lost” forever. :(
As usual, I’ve meandered all over the bloody place and my comment really doesn’t have a point.
Quoting revisited:
“I don’t ever want to have a collection of home-burned CDs with Sharpie writing all over them.)”
I’m with you on that too. There is a very practical reason for it from my own perspective: we have a couple of radio stations in the Yukon that I get and their programming and my musical tastes are not exactly complimentary of one another. In addition, you don’t have to be too far out of Whitehorse to find yourself out of cell-phone, radio, and frequently even satellite radio “range” - so unless you want to listen to the drone of your snow tires on the road you have to go with cd’s. If you are driving along with 20 cd’s ‘burned” in the passenger seat and they all look the same - handwritten sharpie titles - you can end up in the ditch. Album art can be distinguished at a glance or even with peripheral vision- and keeps me on the road (which I’m sure was one of the artist’s first concerns when putting together the cover).
[quote comment="66537"]Given the number of tracks that have been downloaded through means other than iTunes, it is certainly ridiculous to put the blame on iTunes.
Another reason for the death of the album is not how people acquire music, but how they listen to it. The advent of digital music libraries has made it easy to create playlists that span albums, or even shuffle an entire music collection. I guess this started with CD changers back in the 90s? Now, I think a lot of people don’t listen to complete albums anymore, regardless of whether they have all the tracks. Even when they have purchased the CD, they simply rip the tracks into their media library and listen to them in whatever random order they get played. It’s unfortunate, because you definitely miss out that way.[/quote]
Agreed. I rarely listen to entire albums anymore (though I will still sometimes get the mood to do so). I buy physical copies of all my albums, rip them onto my computer, and normally put the 2500 or so songs on shuffle. It makes for a strange, inconsistent mix of music, but I enjoy that (for example, my iTunes just went from Hotel California to The Pixies).
[quote comment="66549"]I’m still old school. I will always go buy the album of an artist I love and eagerly await new releases. I like the liner notes, the art, having the lyrics. I like to be able to hold it in my hand. (and yes, I obviously have all of yours) It’s a physical thing, and a respect thing. You built it, I’m gonna buy it.[/quote]
I have to agree entirely with this.. I get giddy on Tuesday’s when i get to rush to the nearest music retailer and pick up a highly anticipated album. I sit in class days ahead of time sketching out the album name and release date in my notebooks as an excited reminder. I have to buy hard copies, it makes me feel like I own a piece of the artist. I read everything in an album, from lyrics to thank yous. I enjoy watching my collection grow. I buy CD’s aswell as Vinyl becuase its sound is unbeatable. I don’t download music, and probably never will unless it becomes the only option.
Great entry, Matt. A little bit off topic from the subject of iTunes, but one thing I love about your music is that you *do* create complete albums. Before I got into your stuff, I had pretty much given up on albums, with the exception of movie scores since those often have to be solid all the way through if they’re carrying a film. Otherwise, I was doing the buy-one-or-two-tracks-off-iTunes thing.
So I can’t overstate how excited I was when I first bought one of your CDs, and was not only rewarded with a group of solid songs from front to back, but a group of solid songs that formed a cohesive whole. You’ve helped renew my faith in career musicians considerably. :)
If anything iTunes is helping give power back to the artists in some ways. If it wasn’t for iTunes then many artists would be more skeptical of online distribution and to newer ideas. I think it is also notbale that there are many artists that have their music on iTunes that wouldn’t be able to sell albums without it.
iTunes may be helping in killing the current state of the music industry, but it is contributing to the possibility that the artists have the power, and that so do those who buy the music. AC DC and kid rock are what I think signals of a dying way that we perceive music. If we are to focus on finding newer things in music, and focus on less of what we see on TV, then maybe we can get back to where music is an art, and is about an influence and mesage that makes the listener want to listen to a whole album.
Tell me, if you are a band that is not able to sell your albums as well on disk, yet you can get a decent amount of sales on something such as iTunes, how much do you think that would effect something like your concerts, and the sales for them?
Matt Good said:
“As the industry struggled with declining sales, primarily because of the net, the development and dedication to such artists was almost entirely abandoned unless they were already established. Thus, the industry began to rely more on manufacturing artists, ones that needn’t necessarily possess staying power, but could provide them with immediate revenue bumps. This phenomenon led to a massive transformation at commercial radio, the death of music television as a truly creative promotional outlet…”
This is the best explanation i’ve ever heard to why music on the radio & music TV channels has sucked balls this past decade. Thank you, it never really made sense to me the sudden change. I first noticed a change in radio & mainsteam rock around 2001 when Nickelback clones started popping up everywhere and since then there are about 5 good new bands/artists out on the radio/tv at one time with the other 50 bands/artists just complete sound-alikes & look-alikes trying to cash in.
Matt, out of curiosity, for every CD sold, how much do you see in the end compared to an album on iTunes?