I've been really enjoying this thread and following all comments for it.
Nice to know other peoples thoughts on the subject, and how they compare
with your own. As a label, its useful to hear peoples opinions, rather
than just trying to guess what other people want and how they act, based
on my own actions.
Personally, i buy a lot of CDs still, rip them at 320kbps mp3s on my
laptop and put the cover on my shelf. I like having the physical backup
of it, but i often wonder if thats a sign of my/our age, and realise
that i'm probably not representative of others. The ones which i do buy
tend to be small labels, and i usually buy direct from them - its more a
decision to support the label cos i like what they do, rather than not
being able to get the music from other places, which you can usually do
with a minimum amount of effort. The backup thing is good, but I think
that will become more of a moot point in the future, as online backups
and redundant system/disc setups become the norm. Quality is obviously
an issue, but i am on the side of a well ripped 320kbps mp3 being good
enough for my ears.
I've taken to buying quite a lot of mp3 downloads from the Boomkat store
tho, as they have a good selection of things i want, and even though
their reviews are usually puff pieces, they do often get me interesting
in hearing more of the release. I also have an emusic account which
gives me 40 downloads a month, however i usually struggle finding
anything i actually want, and usually only use that to try and find new
things which may or may not be any good.
On the other hand, i've taken to buying more vinyl again in recent
years, yet i mostly just rip it and then keep the vinyl on my shelves.
I guess just out of ease of use, and always seeming to have stuff
sitting on top of my record player!
My own feelings are that digital will become the norm, and physical
objects will become more items to fetishise over. With shelves brimming
with years of cd and vinyl collecting, theres little point to just
another jewelcase or digipack, but something nicely presented, such as
the Spekk releases, or something more handmade and assembled, is much
more nicer and stands as an art object in itself, which i think also
solves the problem we've had for years with CDs where a 5" square just
doesnt do any justice to artwork. Thats pretty much the assumption i've
been working on for Highpoint Lowlife anyway! and i have to admit it's a
lot more fun trying to work on a budget and designing and assembling a
run of 100 limited copies of something, rather than just paying a wack
of money to receive 1000 non-descript cases, half of which in most
cases, end up sitting round your room anyway!
An aside to that, with sales of CDs (and vinyl) declining to a niche
market, i think there will eventually be a digital music tariff built
into the cost of broadband usage, something you won't notice, but will
form a pool of money that will be split between label/artists/rights
holders and collection agencies. I would hope this will be based on
actual data and be fairer to the small labels and unsigned artists than
the current models used based on estimated and aggregate data. but yeah,
thats sheer speculation!
thor
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