Having come on board back when the 45 rpm single was the prime avenue through which music was marketed and consumed and experienced the emergence of the album, the convenience of the cassette, the emergence of the CD and ended up in the brave new digital world as far as Hughesy’s concerned we’ve never had it so good, and it would get even better if we could get away from twentieth century thinking about marketing and outdated business models.
Rant: On the Digital Revolution
Despite the cries of doom and gloom from the major music companies there haven’t been too many better times for people who are interested in popular music that is away from the mainstream. And there is every possibility that times will become even more interesting in the future.
The digital music revolution which spawned the iPod and similar devices has only started to reshape the way people consume music has a way to go before it reaches its logical conclusion, and there is every chance that it will end up far beyond the bounds of any current pundit’s imagination.
When the compact disk came into the marketplace twenty-odd years ago, anyone who suggested that an average consumer would be able to carry their CD collection around with them and have instantaneous access to any track on any disk would have been laughed at, yet in 2006 not only can you carry your music collection around in your pocket, you can send the sound to your car’s FM receiver, watch music videos and update your collection from online music libraries. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Recent developments have meant that it is now possible for virtually anyone who owns a reasonably up-to-date computer can create their own CD quality recordings for minimal cost, though creative talent is, of course, something that you can’t download. Yet.
For an example of what can be done with a lounge room, an iMac, a couple of microphones, an acoustic guitar and a collection of better-than-average songs, check out an album called Surf by Roddy Frame.
Want to go a bit further and convert the garage or the shed in the back yard to a studio? Check out Richard Thompson’s Front Parlour Ballads or Little Feat’s Kicking It At The Barn as examples of what’s possible.
Of course, each of those examples come from artists with lengthy careers, considerable writing talent and significant vocal or instrumental chops. Significantly none of them have record contracts with a major label.
Or rock out to catch your favourite artists next time they’re in town. Interested in getting a copy of what you just heard on CD within an hour of the concert’s finale? Or would you rather have it turn up in the post to save you having to stand around waiting? Or would you prefer to wait a couple of months and have the opportunity to buy copies of any of the concerts from that tour? Those things are possible with technology which mightn’t be ubiquitous at U.S. concerts, but it’s there.
There’s no reason why that technology couldn’t be expanded to cover video as well. How long will it be before the images that are flashed onto screens at major concert venues or music festivals are recorded digitally and released on DVD?
While we can currently head over to the iTunes Music Store to download the latest tracks from our current favourites, that’s only one of an increasing number of sites where you can legally download music. At www.munckmusic.com you can buy copies of concerts by the Grateful Dead, Little Feat, or performances from last year’s New Orleans Jazzfest.
Again, how long before we can buy the video footage as well?
Or are you sitting around waiting for that favourite obscure album from the days before CDs to be re-released? At least one of the major companies are looking to re-release thousands of out-of-print titles for digital download. The companies won’t have to worry about how many copies to produce in a run. A copy on a server somewhere is all they’ll need to produce.
Getting away from official recordings it’s a pretty fair bet that any concert by any major artist will be recorded in some form. There are plenty of artists who have accepted the inevitable and turn a blind eye to sites that offer downloads or bit torrents of concert recordings. That’s if they don’t actively encourage non-commercial sharing of their music.
For an indication of what’s out there, check the Live Music Archive at www.archive.org. There aren’t too many people who need all three thousand or so concert recordings by the Grateful Dead listed there last time I looked, but fans of the late Warren Zevon might be interested in some of the sixty concerts of his that are up there, some of them sourced from Warren’s son.
All those things are happening right now and we can only expect they’ll develop to their logical conclusion and end up at some unimagined destination beyond that.
Of course, we’ll still hear moans about illegal downloads from companies who’d prefer you bought whichever conveniently packaged product they’re currently pushing, but as we head further into the twenty-first century the old models of music distribution will increasingly become irrelevant.
Not that everything is sweetness and light, of course. When the music majors have worked out how to do it you can bet your boots they’ll be looking to extract a premium price for their wares. And of course, if you’ve written a decent tune that’s being widely performed in concerts that are being recorded and shared for free, you’ve got Buckley’s chance of seeing a penny in royalties from those performances.