I will say, while music is probably more disposable, I'm also listening to so much more stuff I wouldn't otherwise have listened to in the past if I had to wait for it on the radio, purchase it or even seek it out on download sites.
Apple and Spotify do a great job at offering recommendations based on my listening habits and letting me know what's new.
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Yes but I'm not sure if it's because artists aren't putting out good albums and more to do with the fact everyone purchases singles now and largely ignores anything that's not getting commercial air play. One of my favourite aspects in the old days was finding the hidden gems in albums that didn't get the airplay they deserved. Even myself now I just pick and choose singles from artists I don't necessarily follow. In the old days I would have been forced to purchase the album and listen to it where I would probably end up appreciating the band more.
Pop music has always been disposable and that hasn't changed but today's pop music in particular is highly manufactured and generic as a lot of it's development starts in boardrooms.
Last edited by Erick Estrada; 08-29-2018 at 09:13 AM.
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I realize I'm a dying breed, but I still buy full albums on vinyl, digital download, and even the occasional CD. What can I say, I'm an old-school collector and I prefer to own my music.
Exploring record stores is still one of my favorite pastimes. Anytime I travel to different cities, I try to hit up the local indie shop whenever possible. Anyone here ever been to Amoeba in LA or San Francisco? That place is my Disneyland.
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I still think Recordland in Calgary is one of the best indie shops around. They did a great job with their renovations a couple years ago on their new vinyl room. There are a some decent stores here in Vancouver, but nothing that compares to Recordland.
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I think one of the things that has made music less immersive is that the technology race has ended and music has lost it's primary tool for evolution, i.e.: electric instruments in the 50/60s introduced a multitude of new sonic possibilities that amazed listeners and inspired artists. The evolution of music over the next few decades followed the new technologies, but it's now at a point where a teenager can compose a professional sounding song on their own where every frequency of every note can be set with absolute precision, so I think it's safe to say the technological evolution has hit it's ceiling.
Technology hasn't really given musicians a new tool for their toolbox in 15-20 years and we haven't seen any new genres of music emerge in that time, but before that was an era in music where you got at least one new genre every decade.
I was at an IT conference in Vegas this past spring and one of the keynotes was talking about advancing technology and he asked how many people still have a CD player in their car. About half the crowd put up their hands. Then he asked how many people still listen to CDs on that CD player. I was one of about a dozen people (out of the 1000+) who put up their hands.
I prefer hard copy of music and not many bands I like put out albums worth buying.
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I get a new record every year for Christmas, Father's Day and my Birthday. It's awesome.
I just tell my wife get me something you either know I would like, or that you think I would like.
So far she's done really well. I'm a big fan of just letting an album play out, that's how you find your favourite song.
By the time I've played out that album, I've got a new one coming.
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Originally Posted by Buff
I was at an IT conference in Vegas this past spring and one of the keynotes was talking about advancing technology and he asked how many people still have a CD player in their car. About half the crowd put up their hands. Then he asked how many people still listen to CDs on that CD player. I was one of about a dozen people (out of the 1000+) who put up their hands.
I prefer hard copy of music and not many bands I like put out albums worth buying.
That would be me also. I like to burn compilation discs of music to listen to.
everyone purchases singles now and largely ignores anything that's not getting commercial air play.
I guess I don't fit in the "everyone" mold here. I have 51 albums purchased in total on Bandcamp, purchased 6 albums on iTunes this year (it's a lot harder for me to check what I bought on iTunes in total), and hate the idea of buying a single because I'll want to also buy the album the artist eventually comes out with later on.
Also, what's considered "commercial" air play now? I haven't listened to the radio in years.
I think one of the things that has made music less immersive is that the technology race has ended and music has lost it's primary tool for evolution, i.e.: electric instruments in the 50/60s introduced a multitude of new sonic possibilities that amazed listeners and inspired artists. The evolution of music over the next few decades followed the new technologies, but it's now at a point where a teenager can compose a professional sounding song on their own where every frequency of every note can be set with absolute precision, so I think it's safe to say the technological evolution has hit it's ceiling.
Technology hasn't really given musicians a new tool for their toolbox in 15-20 years and we haven't seen any new genres of music emerge in that time, but before that was an era in music where you got at least one new genre every decade.
Well autotune isn't really that old and it's made a lot of pop stars out of people that can't sing otherwise has there really been any advances since synthesizers (date back to the 60's) or sampling (70's)?
Well autotune isn't really that old and it's made a lot of pop stars out of people that can't sing otherwise has there really been any advances since synthesizers (date back to the 60's) or sampling (70's)?
Digitization of music happened in the 90s and the tech started to plateau and become widely available in the 2000's. Music tech didn't have a lot of new stuff in the 90s, but there was a ton of refinement that happened, the improvements in music tech from 1990-1999 is much more dramatic than the improvements from 2000-2009.
I don't know if the cultural apparatus exists for there to be a "explosion" of music (i.e, a number of artists getting famous for a playing a certain style of music.) I think with the speed of information, it is easy for people to create their own scenes and bring a style of music to a certain level of recognition. Rockabilly, British Invasion Blues, Singer/Songwriter Folk, Metal, Early Techno, First Wave Hip Hop, Grunge, Second Wave Ska.... all that stuff took years to reach critical mass. Now the middle man/record company isn't needed. The production/distribution/remuneration model is completely within the artist's grasp. What's left of the record industry isn't really worthy of a huge public fervor or high cultural achievement. What's is considered hip or BIG now is kind of generic and also-ran. (Obviously there are exceptions, I mean artists like Kendrick Lamar will always be geniuses.) But the next big thing is being done by some kid in their bedroom studio, but not too many people will hear about it because they just create music for themselves and their friends. And that's kind of cool in itself.
Exploring record stores is still one of my favorite pastimes. Anytime I travel to different cities, I try to hit up the local indie shop whenever possible.
Me too. Just got back after a week in Saskatoon. Vinyl Diner is a great store!
I've turned into a hybrid listener. All my listening is done through Google Music, and usually I'll just pick a radio station from one of my playlists. But if I come across a song I really like from a band I don't know I'll go to that album and listen to it front to back. Just did that for Monster Truck yesterday, such an awesome band
Has Music Become Too Disposable?
