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Current topics being mourned at SHtv:

The bankruptcy of Quantegy (multiple threads):
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... hp?t=47488

The closing of the Hit Factory in NYC:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... hp?t=47496

The death of hi-rez at the greedy hands of Sony:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... hp?t=47427

and, the closing of Universal's Pressing plant:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... hp?t=47458

OK. For traditional music fans, these are all bad stories. And we all realize that the underlying issue driving most of these stories is digital music (either through P2P trading, Pro-tools, cee-dees, whatever). But are the 4 things I've listed above to be dreaded or is this just a sign of music moving forward with technology?

I've always felt that the internet was a good thing for music. It democratizes the process, particularly in the distribution area. If I were in a band, I wouldn't be looking to a major label to distribute my music, since their ridiculous contracts would guarantee I would owe them money in order to get my music out to the public. Instead, I would set up a web site, offer downloads to whet the appetite of my target audience, and use whatever means necessary (Napster, itunes, etc.) to get my music out there.

In order to save costs on production, I'm certain I would record digitally, using Pro-tools or some other program through my PC or Mac at home and skip the studio altogether except possibly to record a drum kit or other instrument that required room ambience to enhance the performance. I would do the engineering and mastering myself, even burn the CDs myself, or at least find a cheap reproduction co. to do the burning. This would, so far, preclude any hi-rez (read: 5.1) mixes, but I'm guessing that software is either already here or will soon be with us to allow that process to be taken away from the Steve Hoffman's and Elliot Scheiner's of the world.

Anyway, I see the analog tape, big recording studios, vinyl pressing plants, and multinational music companies as dinosaurs of the golden age of music, and maybe instead of mourning their deaths, we should be celebrating the new avenues open to artists through emerging technologies.

First of all, let's consider the source of the "mourning". Most of "the sky is falling; my world is dead and gone" doom and gloomers are record collecting geek SHites who don't have the slightest inkling about how these things operate in the real world. All they know they've learned from internet threads that endlessly repeat the gospel "analog = good, digital = bad". That's the extent of their experience and "knowledge". (Not that that ever stops them from seeing themselves as elite experts on the matter.)

As for their Luddite Prince, Steve Hoffman, he is a minor player in what was always an absurdly marginal niche, that of the "audiophile" reissue licensing business.

It seems absurd that in the year 2005 people are even thinking about 2" tape, Ampex tape machines, vinyl, tube amps, etc. After all, I've yet to encounter stories about sub-cults in the 1960s who eschewed contemporary technology, and instead stubbornly insisted upon the superiority of 78s and Victrolas. (Correct me if I'm wrong!)

The SHites are mourning the demise of all of this, but who else is? Recording studios, production suites and the like have all assimilated digital long ago.

Younger people have no problem with any of this; they like their iPods and iTunes and P2P servers. I'd even say that you are being unwittingly conservative in your assessments, Dan, as even CDs and other physical sound carriers are rapidly becoming obsolete/unnecessary. My 17 year-old niece thinks its ridiculous and quaint that anyone would even bother to burn an audio CD-R. She certainly has no need to. She has her Mac, her iPod, and her car stereo that the iPod plugs into. Is she missing out on anything, sonically or otherwise? I don't think so. (Unless you think the joys of comparing matrix numbers is a wonder to behold. )

My 17 year-old niece thinks its ridiculous and quaint that anyone would even bother to burn an audio CD-R.

Precisely. Physical media are dying. The CD is going to be the last mainstream tangible audio carrier, regardless of the "hi-res" fantasies.

I'll miss the art and packaging and other ephemera, but no one who didn't grow up with it will.

(Unless you think the joys of comparing matrix numbers is a wonder to behold.)

Years from now, audiophiles will compare MD5 checksums.

Ryan

I think many people look to the past as much as they do the future. Just the other day, I saw a group of teenage school girls in uniformed plaid skirts scrounging the vinyl bins at the local brick and mortar store. I don't know how to interpret their actions: they could have just been looking at the quaint old albums their parents got all excited about, they could have tried to find some albums to impress someone who's a wannabe DJ, or maybe they were interested in the music and/or the record players. Whatever their motives, they're not the only teenagers looking through the vinyl bins. I've been going there for years; I'm advanced in age enough now to see how much different I look than the teenagers, and they still come to the store just like I did at their age.

I'm not trying to start an argument about what forms of media will exist in the future. I just want to acknowledge that there are people who still wish to possess physical media, and its long talked about demise may be a slow, lingering death (if there's even a death forthcoming). In this culture, people love choices.

This very interesting thread seemed to die far too prematurely.

People love choices, yes; indie kids still have something of an allegiance to vinyl, yes, but distribution channels are what determine things, first and foremost. Now, what with chain stores and independent retail shops going belly-up, the likes of Best Buy slashing their CD sections down to the most predictable and stale limited selection imaginable, the growing popularity of iPods and the like, etc., and so forth, it just won't be seen as cost-effective or even viable to move great amounts of physical product. Like it or not, it is the market that will determine the situation.

I don't believe that the physical carrier will be going away completely. Rather, I think it will assume a more "deluxe" guise, for which one will pay a premium. I think this day is coming sooner rather than later. The downloadable, virtual form will be the dominant (and more affordable) "format", and the CD (or perhaps DVD-V, replete with music tracks and video, elaborate packaging, etc.) will be the limited edition, more expensive version -- much like limited-run vinyl releases of CDs today.

I can see how the powers that control music would engineer people to listen to a format, in much the same way that CD won out over vinyl.

An interesting part of the vinyl/CD battle is that many old school DJs were convinced that the music industry, when it converted to CD from LP, was trying to put them out of business by taking vinyl records off the market. At that time, the record supply dried up surprisingly fast in the stores. The music industry forced the consumer's hand in buying the new format. Rappers and DJs protested enough to the point that they saved the vinyl format from complete extinction, to which nerdy audiophiles owe them a debt of gratitude. Public Enemy was one of the most vocal critics. They said in an interview that they owned around 19,000 records at the time, from which they drew their lush multi-layered sampling techniques.

When I go into the local brick and mortar store, most of the new records are DJ and Hip Hop selections. There are quite a few titles of new rock releases on vinyl, but it remains to be seen how long those stick around. Most new vinyl releases sound very good these days because they're produced in low numbers with quality control in mind, characterized by low noise, almost zero pops and crackles, and quality pressings. Even so, they still typically have that slightly muffled treble, slightly bloated bass, and breakup in complex passages that we hear from almost all vinyl pressings throughout the ages.

I can see CDs going the way of vinyl. It could happen at any time, whenever the music industry decides to pull the plug. They're the ones who dictate our listening habits. The massive popularity of the iPods is a warning sign.