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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "2000 Man" <latrobe33@gmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: Thank you, Jaimie |
| Date | Mon, 14 May 2007 20:25:27 -0400 |
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I've only been a reader of this list for awhile, but a few days ago someone
asked us folks that never speak up to speak up, and this has been absolutely
one of the best and most interesting music discussions about the current
state of affairs on the music scene I've seen in years. Me, I'm just a
consumer. I can't sing, play anything, mix anything or even carry equipment
for bands anymore cuz I'm too old and too busy. I don't care what eMusic
offers, same as I don't care what Apple is selling. I buy my music on cd's
these days (for the most part, some things you have to get on vinyl). i rip
my own mp3's and my mp3 player is set up to act like any flash drive on a
computer, so I could share very freely if I wanted.
But I put a value on music. It's the best thing in the world. This list,
Sirius, music blogs, friends from all over the world, message boards,
magazines and college radio are what I call filters. I know what I like,
and I think pretty much over 90% of everything is pure crap. But that ten
percent that's left is pure gold and I know I'll never hear half of that ten
percent, but I'm gonna try. Which brings me to my favorite filters of all,
a few choice record stores left here in Cleveland. I buy very few things
online, and only when it's something I just have to have and it's long out
of print or by a band with no distribution that really catches my ear.
Cd's cost somewhere around fifteen bucks. How many things can you buy that
you'll still pull out in 20 years and love as much or even more than the day
you bought it? You can't buy shoes, clothes, a car or much of anything for
fifteen dollars. I trust my record stores enough to walk in on days when I
have money burning a hole in my pocket and no idea what music I want to just
walk in and ask, "What's good? I've got enough for three cd's and I want
one tangy, one noisy and one poppy." I've never taken those back. I help
keep a few local people employed and help give bands a reason to keep
playing shows in front of 30 people, plus I get to enjoy those bands even
when I can't be one of those 30 people.
Maybe I'm one of the few. But I've managed to be responsible for getting
people to try bands like Lucero or Two Cow Garage way more times than
they've ignored me. I know I have pretty pedestrian tastes, but I know what
I like and it's still fun to try and find that stuff. Just browsing a
catalog on itunes or looking on AMG just doesn't provide much fun, or much
interaction with other people.
I liked Jaimie's insight enough that I'm going to look further into Bullseye
Records and get one of my stores to order something for me. I'd rather see
everyone involved make a reasonable profit than some guy with a few servers
make most of the money for someone else's work. That guy with a server adds
no value whatsoever to me, so I really don't care if he goes out of
business. But my record stores and those little labels are the best filters
there are, and I hope they can stay alive.
Rick
On 5/12/07, Bob Hutton <bobhutton@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
> I get a definite impression (although I can't be certain) that most of
> the people who agreed with Jaimie's and Adam's viewpoints are aspiring
> professional musicians or folk who work in the music biz, whereas the
> few who sided with me are merely consumers.
>
> Industry versus the consumer ... who'd have thunk? :-)
>
> Me, I'm off to eMusic to use up my monthly downloads on stuff I'd
> probably never consider purchasing on CD (Clientele & Maplewood most
> likely). Then at the end of the month I'll be in Liverpool for IPO,
> watching my mate Bob Kelly's band (Kelly's Heels) rock the Cavern - now
> there's a guy who I think really deserves to make money with his music.
>
> Toodle-pip and Gawd bless you all.
>
>
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