Music: Past Present

[mikeinie]

The music industry has changed so much in the past years from the retail side of things that it is almost unbelievable.

When I was a teenager one of the things I loved to do was to go downtown and visit some of the big record stores and scroll through all of the new albums, looking for new artist or new albums. One thing that was important was the creativity of the album cover, I would something buy a record on the basis of the cover without even hearing what the music was like.

I use to by tape cassettes and spend hours mixing music and coming up with ‘fabulous’ tapes with the best music out there, I would even do mixes for people and provide them as Christmas gifts or birthday gifts, and they were well received. It was a hobby.

Then CD’s came along, and of course I was swept up with the clarity of sound, the amazement that all those songs were on one little disc. The different in size meant that they could be better stored as records took up so much space. Once you could start recording directly to CD’s the tape decks faded away.

In time, the records found themselves boxed up and remain up in the attic where I cannot bring myself to dispose of them (probably due to the memories attached to them). I still have a Beatles Abbey Road on the original Apple label.

The CD collection grew, not only getting new released, but replacing the classics albums that needed sound quality such as Dark Side of the Moon, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, Crime of the Century and many other fantastic albums re-released in CD format.

Now we are in the age of downloading, where MP3 & MP4 players allows you to carry around thousands of songs (and even the videos) on a nice little IPod or equivalent that does not skip, dosen’t jam up and if you want the latest release just plug it onto your computer and download.

Slowly the CD’s are being boxed up and are moving up to the attic next to the boxes of albums.

I love this new technology, and use it regularly, but some of the magic is gone (or being replaced).

My kids don’t ever go to music shops to brows, they have seldom listened to a full CD from beginning to end (except when they are in the car with me and I have the CD player going, but even now my car has an Aux for MP3 players, so they just want to plug in the little music boxes and listen to their mixes).

Some of the best songs I ever heard were not the commercial released songs from albums which got radio play, but were from the tracks on albums that were more than 3 minute long so never made commercial radio, or were just commercially enough for radio. If now a day’s only the commercial songs get downloaded, how do the other potential classics get found?

Saying that however, my kids often surprise me when I hear them singing something that I had no idea they ever heard of. A while back my daughter was singing a Billy Joel song from 52nd Street, I asked her ‘how do you know that?’, she said that she heard a song in a movie that she liked, youtubed it, saw it was some guy named Billy Joel, so she watched a bunch of his stuff on youtube and thought he was very good. She downloaded the stuff she likes and now has a number of Billy Joel classics on her IPod.

One of my daughter loves Mike Oldfield, purely from listening to his stuff on Youtube, and this guy would not be considered commercial.

So I realized that, nothing has changed in the core of things, just the method. Where I use to go into the shops browsing albums, kids these days somehow hear about an artist, or a song, they do their own browsing be it through youtube or other web based systems, and they end up doing it their own way.

So question:

Albums?

CD’s?

Or

Downloads?

What do you do prefer?

[buttercup]

Fondest memories has to be singles, i think my record player could stack 7.

Next would be sitting on the floor of 'The alternative record shop' with a whole pile of albums to flick through, like you i sometimes bought on just what the cover looked like, some of them turned out to be my best buys, awww :-4

I have no idea how to use an ipod.

[Nomad]

Great topic. Music and their sources are really nostalgic for me as well as many I suppose. LP's, I know what you mean about cover art. It was almost magical as you tried to equate the look of the cover to what music awaited you inside the jacket. Id rush home to peel away the cellophane and absorb the sounds.

I still do that.

The transition from vinyl to 8 track then cassette evolved over a long period of time.

Remember laser discs ? Cds the size of LPs. I think Michael Nesmith from the Monkees was behind that.

Then yes finally cds and that was supposed to be the technological peak.

The nirvana of sound, but you know vinyl is making a comeback.

I shop in new/used record stores because your apt to find hidden treasures in the used aisles.

Little rememberances from the past.

Its still one of my favorite things to do on a Sat morning. Ride downtown and slowly browse through the blues and jazz sections with some cool music playing in the background.

The place I go, either Down In The Valley or The Electric Fetus are head shops. Adds to the nostalgia as you pass by bongs and pipes and kind of smile and shake your head wondering if you could even handle a joint anymore. Long time.

My wife went I Pod this weekend.

My new receiver is I POD friendly as well as high def or satellite radio but Im not on that bandwagon.

If I burn an MP3 disc I can get plenty of music on one disc and I like having something tangible to look at or pick up and touch as I decide what Im in the mood for. I like watching my collection grow. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy to pull a disc out and set it in the tray then sit back and close my eyes as Michael Buble serenades me.

I like tangible things. I like the process of selecting and purchasing music the way I always have. The only difference being I dont have to wait until I get home now.

Another big factor for me is sound quality. Those little earbuds arent for me. I want big full sound. I want it all over the place, I want it to fill the room up so that when my eyes are closed the musician is in the room playing for me.

I know headphones have come a long way. I put a pair of Bose on the other day and it was remarkable but its not the same as listening to the ting of the symbol, the piano key hitting that one note through those speakers or that clean deep sound coming through the subwoofer.

Music is very personal to me and it has to be just exactly right.

Shut the door and turn out the lights on your way out.

[chonsigirl]

Wow, I am old. I still use cassettes in my car, no CD player.

I prefer my music live. I just sit down at the piano or get out my flute, and I am happy.

[mikeinie]

Nomad;1148954 wrote: Great topic. Music and their sources are really nostalgic for me as well as many I suppose. LP's, I know what you mean about cover art. It was almost magical as you tried to equate the look of the cover to what music awaited you inside the jacket. Id rush home to peel away the cellophane and absorb the sounds.

I still do that.

The transition from vinyl to 8 track then cassette evolved over a long period of time.

Remember laser discs ? Cds the size of LPs. I think Michael Nesmith from the Monkees was behind that.

Then yes finally cds and that was supposed to be the technological peak.

The nirvana of sound, but you know vinyl is making a comeback.

I shop in new/used record stores because your apt to find hidden treasures in the used aisles.

Little rememberances from the past.

Its still one of my favorite things to do on a Sat morning. Ride downtown and slowly browse through the blues and jazz sections with some cool music playing in the background.

The place I go, either Down In The Valley or The Electric Fetus are head shops. Adds to the nostalgia as you pass by bongs and pipes and kind of smile and shake your head wondering if you could even handle a joint anymore. Long time.

My wife went I Pod this weekend.

My new receiver is I POD friendly as well as high def or satellite radio but Im not on that bandwagon.

If I burn an MP3 disc I can get plenty of music on one disc and I like having something tangible to look at or pick up and touch as I decide what Im in the mood for. I like watching my collection grow. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy to pull a disc out and set it in the tray then sit back and close my eyes as Michael Buble serenades me.

I like tangible things. I like the process of selecting and purchasing music the way I always have. The only difference being I dont have to wait until I get home now.

Another big factor for me is sound quality. Those little earbuds arent for me. I want big full sound. I want it all over the place, I want it to fill the room up so that when my eyes are closed the musician is in the room playing for me.

I know headphones have come a long way. I put a pair of Bose on the other day and it was remarkable but its not the same as listening to the ting of the symbol, the piano key hitting that one note through those speakers or that clean deep sound coming through the subwoofer.

Music is very personal to me and it has to be just exactly right.

Shut the door and turn out the lights on your way out.


Great reply, I can relate fully

[qsducks]

CD's for me. My truck has a CD player and I get my daughter to download and make them for me.

[sunny104]

I only listen to cd's in the car (or the stereo). At home I listen to music on the internet or the tv. :-6