Thursday, November 1, 2007

Death To Liner Notes

I haven’t bought a cd in weeks and I’m jonesing. The last one I purchased was that Spoon album, and I waited until around the time it was released, to help the cause, so to speak. I used one of those Best Buy Reward Zone coupons for an extra $5 too. Yeah, I know: buying music at Best Buy ain’t helping the cause, particularly as Best Buy was part of the problem when the record industry kissed their (and Wal Mart) ass, thereby shunning the indies and cutting into their profits. The thing was, Best Buy had a lot of what we all looked for in a record store: large selection and attractive prices, so what am I going to do. Fuck dude, I love music, what can I say? I like it when I get a chance to buy more music with my dollar. So sue me.
But now I’ve noticed that Best Buy has cut out a large chunk of music’s square footage and replaced it with a bunch of shit that doesn’t interest me. A Boost mobile phone? No thank you. I’m here to get the new Spoon album.
And for real: that was the only thing I bought there. I did contemplate getting the Death Proof dvd until I questioned why they didn’t have the other half of Grindhouse out unless, like those cocksuckers at the studios are likely to do, they plan on releasing some deluxe edition down the road with nifty packaging and bonus shit.
I passed on the movie and stuck with the Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.
And end though I’m not completely tickled with the new Spoon album, I’m not opposed to it. I played it a bunch of times and I’m not sorry I spent money on it. Why? Well, the whole purchase cost me about $8 with tax after they applied the coupon. That seems fair enough.
To think that, had the record companies considered what’s “fair enough” when pricing cds, well, maybe they wouldn’t be in as much shit as they are now. I remember the excuse in the early 80’s was that all the cd manufacturers were overseas, which is why cd prices were so outrageous. The lie was that cd prices would get in line as soon as more domestic manufacturers opened up. Of course, that never happened. So its poetic justice that they’re now reeling after music fans have found resourceful ways to get the music they want at the price they want…which is nothing.
I think that’s fair; MP3s don’t have a value to me either. But cds, with the artwork, the overall sound and, most importantly, the experience still has a value in my mind. The trouble is, I haven’t had that experience in a while and I miss it.
My primary music listening is reduced to opening up those MP3 files, slapping on a pair of headphones and trying to provide it with a suitable amount of attention in the middle of a fairly hectic life. While not the most ideal of environments, it’s all I’ve got in some cases.
Back in the day, I was able to devote my entire attention to a piece of music’s entire piece. I’d listen to it all the way through, absorbing the liner notes and artwork in the process, to the point where I’d be able to identify the album’s key tracks.
I miss that. It happens too rarely now, and it will become even more rarer if I continue down the path of harddrive collecting.

2 comments:

DJMurphy said...

Dude, I have established a stance about purchasing downloads that will either paint me as pathetic, cheap, heroic, or just way too motivated. I haven't bought a single download. I have never established an account with iTunes; they do not have my credit card number. The reasons are simple; I don't agree with paying money for a sonically inferior product. And frankly, I don't want to contribute more than I have to to the demise of the CD, which I don't see as a product that's "broken". It's bad enough that I haven't been buying my fair share of CDs recently, for personal economic reasons. But I don't need to hasten down the CD's armageddon by buying crap-rate downloads.

In another generation, this stance would be considered heroic. I'm sure now I just look like a mook.

Todd Totale said...

Totally. I do the same thing; there's no way I'm paying dime one for that shitty format.
And children tend to make things financially tight for cd pruchases. I'm there, and that's why I'm jonesing. I simply can't afford it as much as I'd like and I hope Christmas will be kind to me. I almost want to be that guy that still buys cds. I still think that cds are the best format ever...there I said it...and it appears that this may be the last format that remotely looks like the manner I acquired music.