The Internet, Not the Labels, Hurt the Music Industry# LeisureTime - 读书听歌看电影
l*y
1 楼
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/15/opinion/the-internet-not-the-
I WAS the worst kind of music retailer. I got high on my own supply. What a
rush it was to anticipate the new release from a favorite artist. If my
store
was out of stock on an item, there was a good chance it was because my
partner
and I took the last copies home.
I was — and am — a music junkie.
We were on top of the world for a while, but as soon as business dropped, we
blamed the “suits” at the labels. It was their fault for raising CD prices
.
It was their fault for reissuing the same music over and over. Now, almost
10
years after we closed the shop doors for good, every last note of recorded
music is at my fingertips. No more waiting and anticipating. Just get up,
pour
some coffee and minutes later, every release is on your hard drive.
Quite frankly, I hate it.
As an ex-indie record shop owner, I never thought I’d say this, but I miss
those suits at the major labels calling the shots and deciding what was
worthy
of release.
The suits made hits and created stars because they knew something. The suits
had been around the block and back, having experienced, firsthand, everyone
from Jimmy Dorsey to Jimi Hendrix to Jeff Buckley to J. Lo. I trusted them
because they earned that trust, at least on a purely musical level.
There is a lack of education now, an often insufficient respect for our
music
history. While artists big and small continue their quest for sales and
stardom, teetering among the pros and cons of the Internet, downloads and
streaming, little is ever mentioned about the product itself. And product is
foisted upon the masses whether we want it or not.
I say this in the wake of the producer/musician Steve Albini’s recent
keynote
address at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he
discussed, among other things, the current state of the music scene, about
which he is both “satisfied and optimistic.” He likes the way things are
now.
And I suppose it is wonderful, in a way, that the music of some 16-year-old
kids in Chicago, say, can be heard in Malaysia with one mouse click.
But maybe this music shouldn’t be heard. The Internet has enabled anyone
with
a computer, a kazoo and an untuned guitar to flood the market, no matter how
horrible or simply unready the music is. This devalues the great music that
is
truly worthy of being heard, promoted and sold. And it is much more than
just
an endless supply of choices. The Internet has become a forum for all,
regardless of talent. Anyone can be a writer. Anyone with GarageBand can
make a
record.
Continue reading the main story
Recent Comments
Louis
3 days ago
The people who the writer calls suits -- people who exercise control, don't
produce content, usually stay behind the scenes, and retain a...
dean
3 days ago
Folks, for a different perspective read today's NYT obituary on Neil Reshen.
Among other things, Mr. Reshen helped Waylon Jennings and...
Adam
3 days ago
This argument is true of all content on the Internet.
See All Comments
I don’t want thousands of choices. Some choices would suffice, and the
suits
made that happen.
This really isn’t any different than a restaurant with a five-page menu
versus
a menu with five items on it. New Yorkers might remember America, on 18th
Street near Broadway. You needed a back belt to lift their menu up to eye
level. They served every type of cuisine imaginable, most of it mediocre.
Yet
America was always mobbed because the room was colossal and you could always
get a seat. But if you’d taken that menu and opened a smaller restaurant,
it
wouldn’t have lasted a month.
The ability for anyone anywhere to create and distribute music that has the
best chance ever to be heard is a double-edged sword. Citing the documentary
about the Detroit band Death, Mr. Albini explained that the band’s “sole
album was released in a perfunctory edition” in the mid-’70s “and
disappeared until a copy of it was digitized and made public on the Internet
.”
The band found a new audience and now has the career it was originally
denied.
That’s nice. But not every story is like Death’s, and many would argue
that a
brief return to the big time is not really a career. I know the suits would.
I would never discourage any musician, however green, from making music. But
I
would strongly discourage most from releasing that music just because they
can.
It seems like a kick to the faces of the genuinely talented and deserving,
all
because of a technicality called the Internet. Where are the suits when you
need them?
I WAS the worst kind of music retailer. I got high on my own supply. What a
rush it was to anticipate the new release from a favorite artist. If my
store
was out of stock on an item, there was a good chance it was because my
partner
and I took the last copies home.
I was — and am — a music junkie.
We were on top of the world for a while, but as soon as business dropped, we
blamed the “suits” at the labels. It was their fault for raising CD prices
.
It was their fault for reissuing the same music over and over. Now, almost
10
years after we closed the shop doors for good, every last note of recorded
music is at my fingertips. No more waiting and anticipating. Just get up,
pour
some coffee and minutes later, every release is on your hard drive.
Quite frankly, I hate it.
As an ex-indie record shop owner, I never thought I’d say this, but I miss
those suits at the major labels calling the shots and deciding what was
worthy
of release.
The suits made hits and created stars because they knew something. The suits
had been around the block and back, having experienced, firsthand, everyone
from Jimmy Dorsey to Jimi Hendrix to Jeff Buckley to J. Lo. I trusted them
because they earned that trust, at least on a purely musical level.
There is a lack of education now, an often insufficient respect for our
music
history. While artists big and small continue their quest for sales and
stardom, teetering among the pros and cons of the Internet, downloads and
streaming, little is ever mentioned about the product itself. And product is
foisted upon the masses whether we want it or not.
I say this in the wake of the producer/musician Steve Albini’s recent
keynote
address at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he
discussed, among other things, the current state of the music scene, about
which he is both “satisfied and optimistic.” He likes the way things are
now.
And I suppose it is wonderful, in a way, that the music of some 16-year-old
kids in Chicago, say, can be heard in Malaysia with one mouse click.
But maybe this music shouldn’t be heard. The Internet has enabled anyone
with
a computer, a kazoo and an untuned guitar to flood the market, no matter how
horrible or simply unready the music is. This devalues the great music that
is
truly worthy of being heard, promoted and sold. And it is much more than
just
an endless supply of choices. The Internet has become a forum for all,
regardless of talent. Anyone can be a writer. Anyone with GarageBand can
make a
record.
Continue reading the main story
Recent Comments
Louis
3 days ago
The people who the writer calls suits -- people who exercise control, don't
produce content, usually stay behind the scenes, and retain a...
dean
3 days ago
Folks, for a different perspective read today's NYT obituary on Neil Reshen.
Among other things, Mr. Reshen helped Waylon Jennings and...
Adam
3 days ago
This argument is true of all content on the Internet.
See All Comments
I don’t want thousands of choices. Some choices would suffice, and the
suits
made that happen.
This really isn’t any different than a restaurant with a five-page menu
versus
a menu with five items on it. New Yorkers might remember America, on 18th
Street near Broadway. You needed a back belt to lift their menu up to eye
level. They served every type of cuisine imaginable, most of it mediocre.
Yet
America was always mobbed because the room was colossal and you could always
get a seat. But if you’d taken that menu and opened a smaller restaurant,
it
wouldn’t have lasted a month.
The ability for anyone anywhere to create and distribute music that has the
best chance ever to be heard is a double-edged sword. Citing the documentary
about the Detroit band Death, Mr. Albini explained that the band’s “sole
album was released in a perfunctory edition” in the mid-’70s “and
disappeared until a copy of it was digitized and made public on the Internet
.”
The band found a new audience and now has the career it was originally
denied.
That’s nice. But not every story is like Death’s, and many would argue
that a
brief return to the big time is not really a career. I know the suits would.
I would never discourage any musician, however green, from making music. But
I
would strongly discourage most from releasing that music just because they
can.
It seems like a kick to the faces of the genuinely talented and deserving,
all
because of a technicality called the Internet. Where are the suits when you
need them?
