Record sales plunge further...

As far as I´m concerned, they totally deserve it.

First, for being unable to put out decent new music for the newer generations. (And if you guys at the US think that the new music is crap, I dare you to come to Spain where all stations are 24/7 bombing people with Reggaeton music).

And second, for being unable to retain the customers who buy "old music" by destroying records remaster after remaster.

I fit into both categories: I belong to the newer generations (millenial) and love "old music". But despite the fact that I now buy more records than ever, I avoid buying them new because either I don´t like most of the new bands, or because the compression of the 99th remaster of my favourite band gives me earaches and the bonus tracks are just boring live versions.

 

How are new LPs and CDs somehow not "present in the physical world"? I know they are, because I've bought them and they're sitting right here on my shelf.

 

I have them too, but apart from popular modern artists you won't easily find them sitting on the shelves at local LP/CD stores. And they usually do not remain in sale for too long; once they're gone they're gone for good, because they're usually pressed/printed (if they are) in small quantities and/or lack proper distribution.

Entering most general music stores in Europe is a bit like a time travel; it feels like the 60s, 70s or 80s again. I cannot complain, because I buy a lot of archival stuff too, but for the new music I usually have to resort to online stores, Bandcamp or purchase directly from the artists. Thankfully there is a great Jazz Messengers store nearby for anything jazz related that stock a lot of new leftfield artists (and their back catalogue), but good luck finding a particular item elsewhere that is not a new release from the National, LCD Soundsystem, Lana del Rey, Rival Sons, Bruno Mars, Opeth or some other better known act.

 

I must say, I buy CDs all the time, but I pretty much haven't been into a record store to look for them or vinyl in 10 or 15 years. And I used to go record shopping for fun. Now I just order 'em from Bandcamp, or Amazon, or, if I'm looking or something that's OOP, Discogs or eBay, or for audiophile stuff on the rare occasion I buy that stuff, from one of the online retails. They're still in the physical world, they just arrive at my house by mail.

 

Not every place is like Barcelona. I do buy a lot of things off Bandcamp, but largely for the sake of convenience and/or getting it as soon as it's released. But I assure you, it's entirely possible to buy new, current LPs and CDs in record stores, even if they're on small or obscure labels. That says more about the stores you have access to than the records themselves.

 

Well, Barcelona is a very large city with strong indie/alternative scene (the host of Primavera Sound and SONAR festivals) and quite a few larger stores, better equipped than the majority of European towns (I know because I travel and visit local stores in other European countries), so it may give an indicator of how modern music is represented in physical stocks across Europe.

And my shopping experience tells me: try to buy it as soon as it is released and do not bother looking it up at any brick-and-mortar store later on.

 

Well all the artists listed in the billboard have their albums available for sale on a physical medium...

 

Isn't that obvious? The people who grew up with vinyl had it as the only means to listen to albums in great quality, so the rituals were directly linked to that wow-moment when the music started flowing, ergo it became something rewarding, despite all the tedium actually connected with maintaining vinyl. I grew up just in the breaking point between vinyl and CD and had lots of both, but (for many reasons) decided to go CD because I discovered I played music on CD more and for me, the tedium of vinyl cleaning and the formats drawbacks didn't make sense when CD arrived.

The thing you experience with sitting down and listening to an album is the exact same for me, but on CD. I browse my 4000+ CD collection quite often and I still get that positive vibe that I got with the first albums back in 1983. Small, convenient, resiliant and very good sounding. Many, many CDs have really nice booklets and pictures to boot.

 

Well, all this talk about the decline or disappearance of the album because of new technologies and the regression back into older patterns for mass consumption of music, however true and accurate, depresses me. I want the album as musical art form to continue as long as possible...at least until I die anyway. It was definitely one of the main things that made me feel life was enjoyable.

 

Being a baby boomer I like 'the physical' things such as CDs, newsprint newspapers, print edition magazines and such. I still have a Verizon
landline, but own an expensive Google Pixel 2 only because some people insist on 'text messages' exclusively. When I was moving in 1997, I
gave up my 700+ vinyl collection to the local library because they were a weighty bother to move everytime. By then I had about 600+ CDs, a believer in
the Sony/Philips technology (early adopter, still have my earliest CDs from '83, yet to fail.) Recently bought about 50 discs when Best Buy pulled the plug. A real shame.
Although almost every "techie" thing I own is capable of Wifi or Bluetooth, all of it is hardwired to routers. Had to give up on wire containment; must have
a mile of cables and cords. Not until Wifi is more secure and drop-out free, will I consider wireless. [Okey, the Pixel runs on Google's Project Fi.]

I don't do any gaming or home-theatre, once I've seen a movie, I have seen it! Music, well, that's a different creature. Hate to admit it, but I also do streaming,
mostly because it's just plain everywhere. I get Amazon Music as a byproduct of my Prime membership; right yet, I'm in the middle of a 99 cents, 3-month trial
of Spotify Premium. Come November I'll probably try YouTube's new streaming service on some trial basis. I have a nice Sony ES series SACD 5 disc player
from about 2004 that works quite fine. Unfortunately, Sony lost interest in the format until recently. Lately, I've been digging out my old Van Morrison discs as
he is playing Boston Sept. 11. Tickets in hand. In the Greater Boston area it isn't that difficult to find CDs or vintage vinyl primarily because of the college student population.
Sadly, this advantage does not exist for everyone. Love it or hate it, Amazon has a lot of the tangible goods.

It's really all about the music, not the technology. (I should have kept my original 'Beatles on Apple' vinyl, oh well.)

Thanks for reading.

 

Good post. I stream music for casual listening and to explore unfamiliar material, but my preference is for either CDs or lossless digital files. Streaming services, including Apple Music, don’t have every music offering, but I have been surprised at what they do.

 

I don't do anything Apple, but I've looked at Spotify. I too have been surprised at some of the things I've seen on there. I do run into issues - for example their Gavin Bryars collection isn't complete. On the other hand, they do have some things I'd of guessed they wouldn't.

 

I’ve found that streaming services are more or less the same and their music selection is subject to change at any moment. I’m sharing in a friend’s family plan. There’s also practically no means to know what masterings you’re hearing, not that it matters with lossy streaming. Streaming services are definitely not a serious means of enjoying music. My opinion of course, but I think streaming services are so dehumanizing and insulting to both music makers and consumers.

 

We may attempt to be all-compassing in our statements, meaning taking into accounts all viewpoints as much as possible, but we can't take the "me" out of the equation.

So on the one hand, when looking at Spotify, I was surprised at how much is on there. I can appreciate that this is a bit of a revolution for some people, especially young folk just growing up. They're growing up in an era where they've been handed the keys to the record store. That's amazing.

On the other hand - this does not work for me. I have finite time. I have a finite attention span. I like to listen to new music, and when I like it, I like to listen to it time and time again. My finite time does not mesh well with (for all intents and purposes) infinite choice. I found Spotify encouraged me to favor nothing in particular. I had a playlist of new material hundreds of titles in length (I'm an album person, not a track by track person). Should I invest my time in those hundreds of new albums, or in things I already have which I know I enjoy?

Clearly the answer is some variation of "both". However, I can replace Spotify by buying a few new titles for my collection. And since I've chosen them, I've curated based on my preferences. That's more than good enough for me. Spotify simply had too much stuff for me.

 

Great post. I am an album guy and don’t stream but you have identified perfectly why I have not gone down that path. Plus I love the physical.

 

Agreed! I’m an album person too. I set aside a specific amount of time for music, usually two to three hours a day because I’m retired. I give it my undivided attention. Mind you, I enjoy background music too. One thing I cannot tolerate is when people, mostly smartphone users, bounce seemingly aimlessly from one song to anothe often not even listening to the entirety of the songs. I got into a bitter spat with someone over their insistence in doing that. They shut me down by letting me know in no uncertain terms that it’s her phone and her music. I sheepishly conceded, but I don’t like it!

 

I use Spotify and other streaming services and I can see the benefit and convenience of streaming over physical media by miles. I can be anywhere, out shopping, at gym, in town at a coffee shop, and just dial up a new artist or album I feel like listening to at the spur of the moment, and I have to be nowhere near my own physical music collection.

I do buy physical media of artists I like collecting albums of, but to be honest, thats far and between. The truth is, physical media is on its way out.

What others havent mentioned is how the streaming services also hook into music artists. I dont mean the older artists. I mean the new and up coming generation of artists. They are all on multiple streaming services and use those platforms as a means of communication among themselves and other listeners of their music as well as listeners of their own music.

 

The truth is nobody knows.

 

I am guilty of doing this when listening to songs on my iPod in my car, or when streaming at home.

I really only use streaming sporadically on my iPad to sample new music, but the overwhelming choice makes it difficult for me to stick it out unless I’m doing something else at the same time, like cooking.

I had to start bringing CDs into the car again to force myself to play through albums in the car, which is the main place I listen to music these days. With endless choice on my iPod, I find it difficult not to keep skipping around.

I know once I get a new car, that CD option is going to go away.

 

I recently purchased an Apple HomePod and it's a gamechanger. We're at our beach house on vacation. I want to set the mood and entertain my guests for a full day. It's completely self-contained, nothing to plug into, no Bluetooth to tether to a phone, just wi-fi. Sound quality is amazing in a small space like a beach cottage living room.

"Hey Siri, play some cool soul songs from the 1970's" and on comes "Midnight Train To Georgia" followed by 80 other top hits I recognize and 20 great tracks I've never heard before but am happy I just did.

Physical media is over. And not only that, so is the album. It's all about streaming playlists or radio as found on Pandora, Spotify, or Apple Music.

 

Those who like physical media when they get a new car the cd player will be an expensive option.

 

You can still have a CD player installed in your car if you're willing to pay for it as far as I know.

 

Oh... so close. But I'm out.

 

Honestly, I had a very "serious means of enjoying music" over the weekend involving streaming. I was sitting on the porch reading David Ritz' Aretha Franklin bio, Respect, with my phone and headphones by my side, and when I came across the mention of some song or performance in the book, I paused, called it up on Spotify, and listened to it. I was making a pretty focused study of some of the early '60s Columbia Aretha performances that I was not previously all that familiar with and that I didn't have the albums on. And it certainly in no way made me feel dehumanized or made the music feel less human. In fact, it was quite lovely sitting on the porch, reading the book, pausing to listen to the music, etc. It definitely is not an audiophile experience. But it's also definitely not necessarily some kind of not serious, "dehumanizing," "insulting" experience.

 

And that's what streaming is good for - get to know some stuff.