Paul Simon's Lyrics & The Case Of The Vanishing Compact Disc
Slumming at Borders this past week was a pretty rewarding experience for those of us who wandered around the music aisle. There under "S" appeared a new Random House-published book by singer-songwriter and vintage pop icon, Paul Simon, simply titled Lyrics. It is an assembly of just that, ranging from his Simon & Garfunkel days to his latest solo album, Surprise. What is refreshing about this book is that it not only documents every Paul Simon song you could think of (such as "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover," a song he wrote for his son Harper to teach him about rhyme), but also rarities such as "Shelter Of Your Arms" that was written during his Hearts And Bones period, as well as the Graceland-era composition, "Changing Opinion," that appeared on Phillip Glass' Songs From Liquid Days album. Even Simon's Capeman musical is thoroughly represented, complete with all the lyrics to that production's final set list as it appeared on Broadway. Comparable to Joni Mitchell's 1997 book The Complete Poems And Lyrics, Simon's collection one-ups Mitchell's by supplying a forward by artist Chuck Close, an introduction by journalist David Remnick, and a few original handwritten pages of classics such as "Kodachrome," "Graceland" and his ever-relevant "American Tune." The book invites both fan and novice to catch all the double entendres, urban imagery, collegiate poetry, inside jokes, and general genius that can elude the most dedicated listener since Simon's recordings engage on more levels than their brilliant lyrics. And weaving through many of his songs' words is the idea that we are all interconnected, whether through romantic entanglements or global concerns. In "Citizen Of The Planet," a song left off of Simon's version of Hearts And Bones when it originally was recorded and mixed as the Simon & Garfunkel album Think Too Much, the author writes, "We are the citizens of the planet, we were born here, we're going to die here come what may." He doesn't mean this exactly as it reads since its verses are peppered with sarcasm, but that's the point. After reading the lyrics as prose, you get yet another kick out of what Simon says.
Now, let's pretend that while you were at Borders or Barnes & Noble with Lyrics tucked under one arm, you also wanted to buy the double or triple compact disc/DVD configuration of The Essential Paul Simon. Good luck. The problem of compact discs disappearing from the marketplace is worse than it was only a year ago. CD inventories, beyond Borders (traditionally, a strong music outlet), are way down. Store buyers just ain't a-buyin' from the labels, and it's looking grim all over. Circuit City's downsizing and filing for bankruptcy plus record label EMI's 1.2 billion dollar loss are giant signposts that the music industry's physical goods dilemma is reaching critical mass with an impending domino effect fast approaching. With download revenues not yet replacing the loss of physical sales, DVDs now claiming CD territory in Best Buy (coinciding with the chain's significant elimination of music endcaps), Borders and Barnes & Noble virtually hiding their music sections, and Starbuck's intense reduction of counter-promoted compact discs, it's easy to see that record companies are facing the worst marketplace ever that will result in a brutal fourth quarter. And contrary to the hype, the resuscitation of vinyl isn't even a band aid despite one-way sales, considering the manpower, time and expense involved. No matter how cool LPs are, vinyl absolutely, positively will not be the industry's savior, though tilting at that windmill reveals much about the music business' continued short-sightedness.
So how are these former music titans facing the impending battle for our entertainment dollar? In a reality where that dollar has more perceived value when spent on a Steve Martin or Michael J. Fox multi-movie box set or even a Superman or Matrix fourpack, what magic can record companies conjure to keep a 45 to 80 minute CD of merely music competitive? Theoretically, a strong release schedule could do the trick. But looking at recently shipped projects and near future releases, it's another yawn of a year's end with one big exception: Guns N' Roses' apocrypha, Chinese Democracy, that finally will be issued in a little over a week. However, this really, really long-awaited release had better turn out to be bigger than any November surprise Obama or McCain could have dropped since the weight of the music industry's future just might be resting on the shoulders of Axl Rose. Why so gloomy? Check out what else is coming down the pike by our pop standard bearers: Britney Spear's appropriately-named Circus, Taylor Swift's Fearless, David Archuleta's and David Cook's self-titled albums, Maroon 5's remix project, Beyoncé's I Am...Sasha Fierce and Ricky Martin's 17. Can you detect any life-changing records in this batch? See anything other than GNR's CD herding fans to stores by the hundreds of thousands?
Trying its best to pick-up the slack, the catalog world of reissues and compilations--once reliable income generators--unfortunately has had to cut back on releases significantly. Future highlights include UMe's deluxe edition of R.E.M.'s Murmur, Rhino's Led Zepplin box revisit, Genesis' Peter Gabriel years box, Legacy's Philly International repackaging campaign and whatever Shout! Factory has up its sleeve. Still, if that's the most adventurous the industry can get during a holiday season that used to support about ten Grammy®-worthy box sets, expanded reissues by the boatload, and significant, high profile, desirable hits collections, people are just not thinking hard enough. Yes, it's the economy, stupid. But no, it shouldn't mean roll over and play dead. As much as this article has downplayed it, there is one cue to take from the release of vinyl--find any existing demand and fill the pipeline. A synergy of niche releases combined with a guerilla-style marketing approach to more local outlets--we're talking Obama-like ground troops here--could begin the outreach process that traditionally has been limited to Special Markets or Special Products departments. Despite the angst-ridden strains from sales departments that can't quite figure out exactly how to do it, CDs, just as they are right now, should be proliferating everywhere since music potentially has a correlate to every product that is being marketed. The simple fact is when Singer Sowing Centers used to sell 45s in the very old days, no sales department resisted, they just sold music every place they could.
There is an even bigger issue than a more challenging consumer landscape. Look at that list of original artists with new releases again. See the problem? See why we should ban American Idol from the airwaves for about ten years? Take Clive Davis' apparently endless parade of mediocrity, add-in boy and girl band graduates, One Tree Hill-taylored emo and Britney clones by the half-dozen and there is, basically, the state of pop music today. It's also the reason why no one is rushing out to buy new CDs regardless of there being fewer places to buy them. This is all casual music, it's all pretty disposable and adds very little to the culture other than being tuneful wallpaper. Sadly, there are so few contemporary acts beyond The Black Eyed Peas, Joss Stone, Coldplay, Radiohead, etc. that don't appear as fabricated as High School Musicals 1-3. Artists of depth such as John Mayer and John Legend are currently such a minority that similarly talented singer-songwriters are always the last signings for labels (Verve and Concord the exceptions) despite the bigger picture. Following this template, there will never be another Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell, and probably not even a Neil Young or Bob Dylan. A&R departments have devoted much energy on signing and promoting kid stuff but have no clue what to do with artists that have multi-generational appeal or consciousness-raising ideas. And as labels abandoned every generation beyond the youngest to snag profits, we practically lost whole genres of music such as classical and true jazz. Sure, labels can complain about stores going away, marketing dollars shrinking, and iTunes being the only future. They could also reminisce about mean ol' Napster and unregulated file sharing that initially contributed to the music business' messy downward spiral. But if what record companies sold wasn't so disposable, maybe one little compact disc would have a greater perceived value than four boxed Tom Hanks '80s movies. Wait, that is still pretty hard to beat. But as we're waiting for the record business to reinvent itself, is it too much to ask for stores that sell Paul Simon's new book Lyrics to at least try and keep his Essential collection in stock?
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Forgot to mention this in my earlier post.
As an independent musician, the downfall of the CD is a great thing. It means that people are really considering the music they are listening to and finding music in new ways. It means the internet has become a more effective marketing tool than radio, and the internet is a free and open community as opposed to the mainly corporate radio stations. Sure, we can't all be Arcade Fire. However, we do have the opportunity to reach a wide audience judging us on the merit of the music alone.
I think the vision seems to be a bit bigger and more inclusive. Not everyone is happy with the download experience (yet), so they're going to need some education and physical product in the interim.
The problem is the majors are stuck on a dead model of selling music. Dumping a million dollars into promotion of an album just doesn't work anymore most of the time, so the labels are losing tons of money on nearly every release.
Here's the solution: dump the entire business model. Stop spending half a mil on every video. Stop paying for $500/hour studios that are indistinguishable from $50/hour ones. Drop all of the obsolete staff. Refuse to pay the insane radio promotion costs.
I'm not saying the majors need to suddenly become Merge Records, but they should consider it.
Merge Records....love it!!
If you have to look to Border's, Wal-Mart (cringe) and Best Buy for music, the business really has taken a giant step back to the 1950's, when most pop music was sold in department stores such as Woolworth's and Korvette's. I bought my first albums in the late 1960's at Sears.. Now that Tower Records, Peaches, Licorice Pizza and other hip record chains are gone, youth music culture has lost its humanity and been swallowed up by impersonal behemoths with know nothing minimum wage employees.
I haven't bought a cd in years. That is because of all the copy control crap they use now as well as the outrageous prices for new releases. When my favorite band sold a cd that worked in my cd player but not in my laptop, I was done. I have a huge music collection, so somebody like me dropping out of the market really hurts the industry. But they don't care.
PPlaylists are the most constricted in history (largely thanks to Bush's friends Lowery Mayes and Tom Hicks at Clear Channel), which, when coupled with sky high prices, makes consumers hesitant to take a chance on a hitherto unknown artist.
It sucks to be a kid now. The current music is horrible, the record companies have no clue, American Idol and Guitar Hero have cheapened what it means to be a musician and the club scenes have dried up.
That sound you hear is the death rattle of the music industry.
Beautiful comment, Robin. For me, it's the dumbing down of the artists, the sound, the marketing, etc. that's the most frustrating. Can you imagine being a conscious artist these days looking for a public platform, going to the major labels and them not even remotely understanding what you're about since the A&R teams are merely trying to stay competitive with the genericness of the market? No education is going on, no frame of reference other than "because we think it's cool" is utilized, and there is no new aggressive outreach beyond, as you mentioned, Guitar Hero and American Idol. Yeah, it's an incredible challenge, and yet the music industry can pull it together if it gets honest about its problems and not just blame downloading.
Generally good comment, BUT Korvette's was a department store that prided itself in having "best in the business" individual departments. Many of their flagship stores had music departments that were unmatched by even the best stores in the biggest cities. Also, the 1950's was still a time when most cities had "deep catalogue" stores that tried to stock virtually every title in the catalogue....and if the record didn't sell, it stayed on the shelf, rather than being returned to the distributor. You could find long out-of-print records in most stores, still brand new.
"Once upon a time there was a tavern..." ! Even into the '70s, stores mostly kept inventory, even those records that didn't sell, until they were cut out. Then they shifted to cut out bins. Those were the days my friends, we thought they'd never end....
Years ago I remember listening to James Taylor's ONE MAN DOG album and hearing a phenomenal new voice -- Linda Ronstadt -- and wondering why she wasn't front and center. Soon she was, but apparently not without discord with execs on choice of material. Many musicians imbued with incredible talent wouldn't go near Am Idol just to end up signed to sing schlock. I always wondered how the majority of music industry mgmt folks could sleep at night passing on talented singers and musicians who don't fit any mold.
I have advice for confused music corp profiteers: Proft as the single motive will never fulfill itself.
Nice. You know, there'll always be a motive of profit since it is a business. But it seems that since the focus has been on increasing profits quarterly, market research, etc. as opposed to getting a real feel for simple basics such as the genuine talent an artist has, the industry lost the essentials of the heart value and art of music. I believe that's where the industry should begin its self-examination.
Nicely put.
Linda Ronstadt was a successful recording artist long before James Taylor was even known or published
....though some people don't get turned on to artists without the massive hit until they discover them in alternate ways.
I was ten years old playing in my back yard in 1964, when the wildest song came on the radio. It wasn't Bobby Darin, Dean Martin or Frankie Avalon. It sounded so fresh and different and had a beat, so I surmised it must be a new Motown group.
Imagine my shock when I found out that, not only were they not black artists, they were four funny looking young white boys from Liverpool England. I imagine it's pretty hard today for anyone to mistake "I Want To Hold Your Hand" as a Motown record, but that's what it sounded like to that white kids ears in 1964.
If you didn't grow up with them, it's difficult to explain how each new release by The Beatles was such an anticipated event, and when they split in 1970, creativity was exploding on all fronts. I could only imagine the heights music would soar to by 2008. I don't quite remember when it started dying. Was it disco? MTV?
Maybe it has all been done, but I suspect too many artists and record companies are more interested in making it by relying on proven formulas. There still are some great artists out there, but you shouldn't have to dig for them. Is it the consumers fault for accepting mediocrity? Maybe, but The Beatles rocked our world in 1964, and their sales indicate they're still rockin' it today. I believe consumers will always respond to quality - if it's offered to them.
Absolutely RepugsOuto8!!! We need a rush of musical adrenaline in the culture exactly now. Can you get it to us by like 9am tomorrow? We would REALLY appreciate it!!! ;)
You know what? The Kennedy years kind of set the stage for the 60s revolution in music. Maybe Obamamania will do the same.
I know quality is out there desperately fighting to be recognized. We just need some executives that aren't fishing for the same sound over and over. After all, even The Beatles were rejected by the first company they went to, and told that "guitar groups are on the way out." Things are certainly different today, but quality never goes out of style.
Keep fighting for your voice, new artists, and show a little courage, music industry!
with all the crap being over promoted its easy to miss the good stuff...
So true. I've spent the last 20 years having, for the most part, to really work at finding the artists with real talent.
In some ways that's kinda cool. Like having your own special beach where just you and your friends hang out. But I also like seeing deserving artists get the rewards they've earned, and it's sickening to watch the parade of mediocre pop millionaires that fill our culture, while the true artists barely get by if at all.
Playing it safe doesn't seem to be working for the failing music industry, so maybe they'll eventually get it. When one company finally takes that chance, and finds the next truly artistic phenomena, it will explode like in '64. The pop tarts of today will become the has-been teen crooners of my early years. I'm dying to see it happen. I may be an oldie myself, but I love new and innovative music. The Beatles taught me that. :)
anybody ever hear of the Supersuckers? they have a brand new album coming out next week that could easily be the best rock and roll record of the year... no bubblegum or b.s....but i bet no one buys it. no one seems to want actual Quality anymore and most people these days seem to think that music is free via the internet... doesn't matter who it is, just go buy something by your favorite artist - everybody needs to make a living.
Nicely done sir!
I hadn't heard of them, but I'll check them out. This is the way we find good music these days. Word of mouth. Thanks!
Save your money. They have been around a long while and I haven't heard anything even mildly interesting out of them.
Since the age of theiternet - the music industry has and will continue to suffer. When the Ipod came out it did what the comercial said it would: revolutionize the way we listen to music. How do really great musicians compete when we have Rhapsody, Limewire, Itunes? Yes we pay for these tunes- although some of us know how to download illegally. That's one of the reasons the Eagles Cd was only available through Walmart. As for mediocrity - all we do is Champion medicoraty. Way bakc when it used to be a big deal to get a CD outthere. Now anyone can do it. Their are studios everywhare that charge anywhere from $75.00 and up to record a CD. I can record a CD and I'm not a musician. Their are machines that people can use from their home to make a CD. After they do- they take it to a nite club
and get it played and from there- A star is born! Warren Beatty said it years ago on Phil Donohue"Our
technology is far outdoing our ability to use it" How prophetic. We're now counting on vinyl to give us a boost.
In 1970, Alvin Toffler wrote a book called Future Shock that gave us the premise that our technology exceeds our understanding of its ramifications as we apply it. Culturally, we're just not up to speed with our inventions, basically what you're saying Jakkib. But in some ways, it's like the culture resists change and improvements of itself and that may be the way it puts the brakes on or keeps in check our giant technological advances. Possibly that's why, on some industrial, psychological level, the music business shot itself in the foot by never getting a grip on how to proliferate music properly in the age of downloads. It was like Luddites were left in charge of the music business, only focused on the profit and never on maintenance nor wisely applying its newly acquired technologies. DVD-A vs. SACD was a perfect case in point. As the two formats were allowed to thuggishly duke it out for King Of The Hill, no one ended up interested in the fight. Virtually no money went into marketing and education, just lazy advertising. There is a soooo much needed change of the guard in the industry at this moment that would both clean out the cobwebs and energize attitudes and assets.
"It was like Luddites were left in charge of the music business,"
I love it! :)
Robert Fripp made a similar observation when he said with new technology, music won't necessarily be any better... But there will be much more of it.
My new mac came complete with a recording studio as part of the basic package. What's that? You don't play an instrument? No need, there's a loop program too, and plenty of sequenced bass, drum, and guitar riffs.
I've noticed when most talk of recording artist they're referring to vocalist. With few exceptions, vocalist bore me. The vast majority of music I listen to is vocals free. Not really into words. So I'm totally screwed now. As if instrumental bands had a snowball's chance back in the record company days, they've even less now. Not that there's even a need for musicians anyway with the before mentioned loop factory.
You know why vocalists keep coming up? That's the nature of pop music which is kind of how we're defining our "artists" these days. You're very right though, wouldn't it be terrific to suddenly have a slew of instrumental pop hits or artists proliferate and see what that does to the music scene in general? I wonder if this is the answer. Excellent thought...though I hate the idea of looping and sampling being a way around the creation of newly, uniquely created material. But that's me, I'm older...
That's not true. It has always been true that 90% of the records that came out in any given year were a waste of time. During the 1980's (and I am sure it was true of the 1970's, too), there were over 2800 releases a year (when you combine both major label and small labels). So it wasn't THAT hard to get a record made.
It's a lot easier now with all the cheap technology and software available. But there are pitfalls with that, too.
Well, having been one of those who constantly was trying to get a record made, even in the 80s (had three), I don't remember it ever being that easy! ;) But I get what you mean, though this seems to be the longest time we've gone without something creatively causing a buzz in the biz...not counting American Idol and Guitar Hero.
Here's a great new song for the Obama years. For free. Go to YouTube and type in "Brighter Days Ahead."
Mainstream music is in a bad state these days, and the corporations are grinding out one copycat after another, but what else is new. It was exactly the same in the early 60's until The Beatles blew everything wide open, and in the early 90's till Nirvana cama along.
What is long, long overdue is "the next big thing" to produce a similar seismic shift. Frankly, I don't know if it's still possible. There will always be quality players on the fringe, but everything is so segmented and market driven, it's extremely difficult to get an artist that generates broad cross-culture appeal any longer.
The other problem of course is that it's ALL been done already, and likely better. With very few exceptions, all you hear from new bands is a rehashing of former trends and fads, with nothing new to offer. It seems that there are very few original ideas out there, and they get drowned in the corporate clutter.
Having said that - I strongly urge listeners to check out as many Canadian artists as possible. Lots of cool things happening north of the 49th.
Totally, thoroughly agree with you, Headstrong...well, not so sure about the Canadian music part. ;) We really need that next new thing like yesterday...
what country has 5 female artists that combined sold 500 million cd's.
wait for it ..... yup Canada.
celine dion ... 250 all by herself. Not a fan but wow.
shania twain
alanis morrisette
avril lavigne
sarah maclaughlin
could throw in joni mitchell and kd laing. and that's just the ladies.
this from a country of 30 million. amazing actually.
I have to disagree. There is a lot of great music that has been released. If box stores are not going to negotiate better deals with the labels, then don't carry the music. On line providers offer a better selection and is easier to Gift Music. Our family spent more on music in last 20 months than in last five years using Itunes. And if it's not available there, then Amazon is a great place to get the physical CD's, especially imports not currently released in U.S. Record labels make good money. Like finance, insurance and auto industries: they need to reorganize their expenses vs. their revenues and figure out what they can and should be spending to sustain. GnR, not so good. David Cook, excellent first release, will appeal to several generations.
Well, Cook may be the cream that floats to the top, I hope that's the case, that he will appeal to many generations. My piece is not intended to be a slam on any particular artist, all power to them. I'm more addressing the current generic approach and sound that's creating a less than dynamic motivation for people to care about music. I think we need a smack in the head like the next rap, punk, whatever, in order to get people to wake up and become challenged.
And the marketplace doesn't seem to be very aggressive on trying to resolve the physical sales issue. Amazon and online stores have picked-up a lot of slack and are terrific for finding what you can't in brick and mortar storefronts, so I agree totally with your point there.
Time it was
And what a time it was
It was
A time of innocence
A time of confidences
Long ago it must be
I have a cd
Preserve your memories
They're all that's left you
OMG, how cool!
The Perfect Storm! Bad economy, downloads trumping all and American Idol still in ascendance. Of course bad for whom? For employees at record companies, for sure. Get out while you still can! Your management apparently has not desire to adapt and survive. Seriously. Until the labels figure out a way to compete with Itunes they're screwed, simply put. If XMRadio/Sirius can convince (almost) the FCC that they're not a monopoly by virtue of them competing with all entertainment options out there, the labels could mount a plausible defense of a colluded Itunes look-alike that they control. I'd be curious to know what the hell else they have up their sleeves. Oh and thanks for the heads up about the Simon book!
The perfect storm it is! Amazingly, there was no net in place on anyone's end, everything just rolled into chaos.
See Sal Nunziato's Profile
Nice piece Mike. Only thing I don't get is everyone's constant griping about "nothing to get excited about."
YES THERE IS! Plenty. Just not what you mentioned and not what the labels get behind. Read the piece Tony Sachs and I wrote for Huff/Po in September. It addresses the exact issue of how ridiculous it is to rely on one or two big releases to make or break a quarter.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-sachs-and-sal-nunziato/the-music-industry-so-stu_b_129376.html
Screw Axl Rose! In a perfect world, Chinese Democracy would sell 23 copies and Axl would crawl back in his hole. That record is Guns N Roses about as much as my band is The Beatles.
I'm only allowed 250 words here, but I could list 100 or more wonderful CDs that were released this year, by big artists and small, old and new. There is plenty to buy. People just ain't buying.
Thanks Sal, and yeah, I agree, there are tons of great new releases, but they're mostly being crowded out of the general public's awareness by a lot of generic junk. You and Tony have always been terrific at pointing out what the good and interesting stuff is, but with the calibre of releases constantly hitting new lows, it's in the music biz's best interests to re-examine why sales are suffering beyond the shrinking marketplace.
In response, though it's pretty much been echoed already - there is nothing that gets a BIG push that is all that great, nothing that starts small and becomes huge - at least not for a while. And I know there are a lot of "good" to "great" releases (I frequent Pitchfork and The AV Club often) - the point being, there is nothing that is truly outstanding that the Biz is behind, they would rather throw out several more bands that use the Eddie Vedder voice behind some Pro Tooled grunge guitars. This is what the majority of the public - at least what current rock radio would lead us to think - believe "rock and roll" is. As Keith Richards said it's all rock and they forgot the roll and I will go one further and say the rock by itself is pretty terrible. Is it the mainstream's just desserts for not being in the know of the new Deerhunter record or the Biz's failure to get fully behind TV On the Radio? Maybe but I think people are going to download for free (good and bad music alike) and only buy an album if there is no way they can get it for free (and that's if they really want it). The only way an album makes a blip is if it is aggressively promoted and the people who don't have access to internet/bit torrent are willing to shell out $20.
Thanks Sal,
I responded over at your post and I hope it gets posted but GnR doesn't exist and I don't even think they could hold a re-union that anyone could get that excited about because who knows if Axel will show up, or perform or perform for more than 9 minutes.
Sal
if no one plays the new music, any new music then how can we buy it. I don't really want to plow through sat radio so i rely on happenstance. not a bunch of consultants.
but who will weed through the crap. and please, 15 dollars for a cd? no way.
labels are only a building and a few overpaid execs with a catalog. it's over.
yet this year we got steve earle's washington square ... wow and robert plant and alison kraus with "sand' double wow. so you're right. there is stunning stuff out there. may i suggest you taste james mcmurtry or kane welch and kaplin. the lyrics are amazing and the playing great.
ray in toronto
See Sal Nunziato's Profile
David,
First off, CDs haven't been $15 for a few years now. New releases on Amazon usually cost between $8.99 and $12.99. And as much as I miss real radio with real people, you can sample just about everything on both Amazon and iTunes. I know it's not the same thing, and I know there are many factors--perfect storm, economy, time, other priorities, blah blah blah. All of this needs to be taken into account. But the reaction of most people is along the lines of "can't," when in reality it is just "won't." The music is there. The music is affordable...finally. And the music is good. Love McMurtry, by the way.
The record industry is getting exactly what it deserves for turning away from artists and fervent music fans, and concentrating on mega-sellers and huge profits instead.
When CD's were introduced into the market, the cost of a typical retail album shifted almost overnight from $9 to $16. At that time, we music-buying consumers were assured that the high prices were just temporary and would come down. Well, they never came down. I never forgot that. I spent a lot of money on CD's in the 80's and 90's.
Meanwhile, just about every other form of technology besides CD's got MASSIVELY cheaper during the 90's. We weren't blind to the fact that record labels still wanted $18 for a CD, yet now we could suddenly get dozens of blank CD's for less than that. Where was all this money going, exactly? Steve Albini and Courtney Love both wrote excellent pieces about how backwards the industry had become.
The "last straw" for many of us consumers was when we suddenly got a new option to look online for music - Napster - and the industry responded by suing us. Keeping CD's the same price all along. Now they are reluctantly changing.
Despite all that, I'll still buy new CD's - when I can find them for $10. That's a fair price. It's pretty simple, actually. Offer a consistently excellent product at a fair price. Period.
Hey Eddie, your feelings about the industry getting what it deserves are shared by like a billion people. The problem is perception, music has been so devalued for so long that it's impossible to get the cred back. And equally, to your point, $18 does seem like too much, especially given that you can buy a DVD box set for that much. This is a tricky one for the music industry...
ragz
curious at your choice of the word "devalued" could you clarify please. i think music has phases and then disapears as the practitioners/talent dies off. rather that rehash another britney someone has to expose the new.
remember Beethoven and that kid Mozart? they were the Beatles and Stones of their time. then they were gone. their like was never seen again, but we still play them 250 years later.
there are only so many chords and notes in an octave. so until someone rearranges them in some new way AND lets us hear it nothing will change except more of the same.
it's the human condition. great piece. enjoyed it.
Yeah. The RIAA and the American automakers. Same thing.
One your note of worthy releases - I agree, nothing to get too excited about - part of the problem is there doesn't seem to be any strong "movements" or sub-movements that tap deep (grunge, hip-hop) or even shallow (industrial, punk in the early to mid-90s) into the mainstream. What is being promoted? American Idol winners and losers? I guess hip-hop is still capable of tentpole releases (Jay-Z and Eminem have new releases due out next year) but I have a feeling that it won't save the traditional model of the music industry. Funny how Axl Rose's mythical 15 years-in-the-making record is actually being released and it is what industry folk are banking on to provide a return to normal consumer behavior.
Yeah, and as cranky as I played it in this blog, I really am rooting for the biz to get its act together. I think there should be a Marshall plan, collusion not excluded, in order to get the motor running again. The quality of the music itself is always a debatable thing, but it's SO obvious that the industry has played it safe in most of its signings for this past decade. We need a new genre or something incredibly exciting to capture our imaginations again.
Can you play guitar? ;)
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