Black liner run
If you don't know what spotify is, let me tell you the basics.
You don't need any records at all. You don't need to download anything. (Except for the program of course). No files taking up your precious space on your harddrive. Spotify is a client running streamed music. You can find almost 4 million of the 7.5 million songs currently at STIM. And that's pretty good. In the future, everything will probably be avaible on Spotify. So, no downloads, no mp3's. Nothing. Just a simple installation and you get access to loads of music.
So far, so good. I like it a lot. I use it at work. I used to run Last FM at work. I've discovered a lot of new music thanks to that program. I still use it from time to time. The downside concerning Last FM? Well you can't really choose to listen to one specific album. Just different artists similar to what you've picked. (That's if you use the web radio of course, which I do at work.)
Spotify brings you albums, sometimes even b-sides and a lot of goodies.
HOWEVER. I like records. What if this is the future? (Which it probably is.) This means the record industry will eventually stop to put out records. Why would they? If you can stream the music or download it, why go through the process of making vinyls or cd's? And perhaps that reality isn't that far away. I don't like that. Read my lips. I LIKE RECORDS. I prefer vinyl, but CD's are ok. I want the recordsleeve, I want the cd booklet. I want something real in my hands while listening to the album. Of course, I use iTunes while I'm at home. (I can't at work anymore, not since that damn Office 2007 installation which crashed my iTunes.)
I'm not sure I like this future. It's convenient. I totally agree. But I don't have to like it. It's a good thing you don't have to have a record in your shelf. But I like that. I love fiddeling my stuff. RECORDS that is!
So... Where are we going? And do we like it? I'm not sure.
What will it be?
I'm pretty sure CD's will still be there to order. I predict that most music will be released on the net ( probably for free ) and customers will be able to order a complete Blueray/DVD/CD's set with full featured full quality songs, videos, performances and mbe discountcodes for the artists concerts.
The old recordstore will probably change drasticly though. I think most will have a more "gamestore" approach to their customers. Buying and selling second hand CD's/DVD's,
/ Mikke
Mate, I hope you're right. Come to think of it. The latest NIN release was avaible as a free download, you could pay for better quality mp3's or wave format, or get the luxyry supermega limited edition.
Wasn't there something similar to the latest Radiohead album? You may contribute if you want... That sort of thing?
See ya this x-mas. I'm looking forward to at least ONE X-BOX evening! :) Say hi to D from me!
vacc 12/12 - 12/1 so call when ur up for crushing me in a raceing game ;) / M
And you know it! ;) NHL09? C'mon! :)
Couldn't agree more Peter... :S
I don't think even burn on demand will work in the future. Huge artists like NiN and Radiohead can ask people to contribute and then put out luxury versions on vinyl and/or CD but all smaller artist will not be able to.
And don't get me started on ticket prices. DM cost 1000 SEK for a ticket to a tour where they'll play music you haven't heard yet. How weird is that? I know it's the result of filesharing etc. And now they want to raise the price of internet access. What the fxxk... I buy records, I want to go to concerts, I don't fileshare. Why am I feeling I'm the one being punished here?