So I put my Outcast record on/ And turn up the volume, 'cuz I'm all alone/ And scream away
I tend to read several books at a time. It's a bad habit of mine. One I just started plugging away on is Chuck Klosterman's Fargo Rock City. It totally makes sense as I have been developing a voyeuristic interest in 80's metal as of late. I just couldn't resist! Anyway, I keep coming across references to albums that he felt were seminal, ie Motley Crue's Shout at the Devil and Guns N Roses' Appetite for destruction. I think though, that the album, as an art piece, is already dead, and my generation only experienced it's death nells.
I used to buy cd's, take them home, go up to my room and soak up the songs emminating from my boombox (my yellow egg shaped one with a cd player on top and a tape deck in front). This would be 2001, middle school for me, as my prime for buying cds. I definately don't do that anymore. I don't know why, as I sort of miss it. I blame it on the mp3.
In the nineties, you only heard single tracks from the radio, or mix tapes from enthusiast friends. If you like a song, you bought the whole cd. Now when I like a song, I might get another track or two. I have the luxury/curse of only paying for exactly what I want. If something doesn't catch me on the thirty second clip, I probably won't purchase an unknown song. It's cheaper and gives me instant gratification, but I lose out on tracks that "grow" on you. Those would become favorites as they tend to stand the test of time.
Purchasing individual tracks means that I rarely purchase an entire album, and when I do, I don't relish the experience the same way I used to. There is nothing to hold in my hands and put in the boombox. Who even has a boombox anymore! (I know, I use old-people words, so get used to it!) We simply do not buy music the same way we used to, and it makes a huge difference to how we listen. What I find odd is that musicians aren't necessarily taking that cue. Concept albums are still being made, but the concept part is lost on the audience. If a concept album is like a book, the audience is only reading a few random chapters. It may still be good writing, but the novel is lost. No longer does liking one song mean owning the album. The single is no longer a hook: it's the final product. I blame ITunes. It makes selective purchasing both possible and preferable.
ITunes and the internet give a whole new scope of access to music that wouldn't have been fathomable in the 70's, 80's and the early 90's. It changes music marketing. For example, Indie is no longer inaccessible and hard to find, it's simply not commercialized. It makes exploring easier than ever. That same freedom, makes everything more "mainstream" and the pop charts less significant. For example, who would have thought that artists like Jeff Buckley or Isreal Kamikawiwo Ole would see a spike in profits simply because somebody else sang the song their known for on American Idol. Older recording would never have received the same kind of spike in the nineties, the way we see today.
This is why we will no longer see seminal albums. They used to define generations. There were certain albums everyone in your grade had. This is no longer the case. I think it means an eventual departure from cds altogether. You CAN still by physical cds, but it doesn't mean you will. I'm sure kids too young for credit cards and people to old will still buy actual cds, but the mp3 generation is growing. As we age, the cd will die out. In the sort term, it will hurt the record labels, but in the long term, it will kill the media form. The days of cds are numbered.
I used to buy cd's, take them home, go up to my room and soak up the songs emminating from my boombox (my yellow egg shaped one with a cd player on top and a tape deck in front). This would be 2001, middle school for me, as my prime for buying cds. I definately don't do that anymore. I don't know why, as I sort of miss it. I blame it on the mp3.
In the nineties, you only heard single tracks from the radio, or mix tapes from enthusiast friends. If you like a song, you bought the whole cd. Now when I like a song, I might get another track or two. I have the luxury/curse of only paying for exactly what I want. If something doesn't catch me on the thirty second clip, I probably won't purchase an unknown song. It's cheaper and gives me instant gratification, but I lose out on tracks that "grow" on you. Those would become favorites as they tend to stand the test of time.
Purchasing individual tracks means that I rarely purchase an entire album, and when I do, I don't relish the experience the same way I used to. There is nothing to hold in my hands and put in the boombox. Who even has a boombox anymore! (I know, I use old-people words, so get used to it!) We simply do not buy music the same way we used to, and it makes a huge difference to how we listen. What I find odd is that musicians aren't necessarily taking that cue. Concept albums are still being made, but the concept part is lost on the audience. If a concept album is like a book, the audience is only reading a few random chapters. It may still be good writing, but the novel is lost. No longer does liking one song mean owning the album. The single is no longer a hook: it's the final product. I blame ITunes. It makes selective purchasing both possible and preferable.
ITunes and the internet give a whole new scope of access to music that wouldn't have been fathomable in the 70's, 80's and the early 90's. It changes music marketing. For example, Indie is no longer inaccessible and hard to find, it's simply not commercialized. It makes exploring easier than ever. That same freedom, makes everything more "mainstream" and the pop charts less significant. For example, who would have thought that artists like Jeff Buckley or Isreal Kamikawiwo Ole would see a spike in profits simply because somebody else sang the song their known for on American Idol. Older recording would never have received the same kind of spike in the nineties, the way we see today.
This is why we will no longer see seminal albums. They used to define generations. There were certain albums everyone in your grade had. This is no longer the case. I think it means an eventual departure from cds altogether. You CAN still by physical cds, but it doesn't mean you will. I'm sure kids too young for credit cards and people to old will still buy actual cds, but the mp3 generation is growing. As we age, the cd will die out. In the sort term, it will hurt the record labels, but in the long term, it will kill the media form. The days of cds are numbered.