Skip to main content

Digital Ash

Last week, an extensive entry about the future of the music industry appeared on the New York Times' Freakonomics blog. A college professor, an author, a music producer and two label owners chimed in with their opinions for a refreshing and very well-done piece.

One quote by author Fredric Dannen really touched a nerve with me though. And I don't mean this in a negative way. Rather, it was the realization about a trend whenever there is a new, major advance in technology:
. . . consumers of recorded music will always embrace the format that provides the greatest convenience. No other factor — certainly not high fidelity — will move consumers substantially to change their listening and buying habits.

Amazing how this simple explanation explains the popularity of the eight-track, the four-track cassette, the Walkman, the MiniDisc, and the iPod. It even explains the popularity of the CD, but there's something I've never understood with those that, even after all these years, still prefer vinyl over CD.

As far back as I can remember, I started listening to music right around the time CDs came out. I heard vinyl records before CDs and frankly, I couldn't tell a difference in sound. Only years later did I tell a difference, but still found the compact disc the preferred format for a variety of reasons. Namely, even though the sound of a CD doesn't cut as deep a vinyl, I don't have to worry about pops and crackles with a CD. Plus, I can listen for 74-80 minutes straight without having to get up. The way I see it, it's a minor con with a lot of major pros.

Since my first CD purchases, I have been surrounded by CDs in my living situations. Frankly, I couldn't see myself selling off my CDs for the convenience of digital. The twenty gigs I have on my computer devoted to music are nice, but I don't have complete faith in digital just yet. Just a simple error with a computer could wipe out thousands of songs. And that's scary. Plus, it's hard for me to imagine listening to music all the time on the computer. Believe it or not, I find it hard to write while I have my iTunes going. But for some reason, I can write while I listen to a CD in my den's CD player. Hell, I even wrote the bulk of this post while listening to a Scott Walker mix CD.

Rounding back to the point at hand, yes, the convenience is what the consumer goes for. But in the case of the CD-to-digital conversion, I'm still very hesitant. But at least I don't have to worry about buying the same music again like when vinyl albums were phased out for CDs.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Go Where You Wanna Go

It's been a year since I moved away from Lakewood, and even though I could relocate to a new place as a newly-single guy, I've chosen to stay where I am. I enjoy living in North Dallas/Richardson given its central location, being not too far away from places I have enjoyed going to in my fourteen-plus years living in Dallas County. Living in Lakewood for nine years was critical for me, but I am glad I don't have homeless people going through my garbage, my street getting shut down like it's Mardi Gras on Halloween night, and I don't have to answer to the not-so-friendly landlords who bought my old place. I have a new housemate moving in at the end of the month and I have many reasons to be excited as he's been a friend for many years. Couple that with a humongous  new record store opening in nearby Farmers Branch , shows to see, and a quick trip to Los Angeles for something very cool (for which I reveal at a later date) and I'm happy to say fall is sha...

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Catherine Wheel

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 Despite managing to release five proper albums, Catherine Wheel was one of those bands that always seemed to slip past the mainstream rock crowd. Yes, they got some nice airplay in their day, but people seem to have forgotten about them. You may hear “Black Metallic” or “Waydown” on a “classic alternative” show on Sirius or XM or maybe even on terrestrial radio, but that’s about it. For me, they were one of most consistent rock bands of the ’90s, meandering through shoegazer, hard rock, space rock and pop rock, all while eluding mainstream pigeonholing. Led by the smooth, warm pipes of vocalist/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), Catherine Wheel featured Brian Futter on lead guitar, Dave Hawes on bass and Neil Sims on drums. They weren’t a pretty-boy guitar band, but they weren’t a scuzzy bunch of ragamuffins either. Though the band hailed from England, Catherine Wheel found itself more welcome on American air...

Socials

 Hey, everyone! You can find me on several other platforms: http:/ http:// themeparkexperience.substack.com http:// Instagram.com/ericjgrubbs http:// TikTok.com/@ericjgrubbs http:// threads.net/ericjgrubbs http:// ericjgrubbs.bsky.social Thanks!