My sister called me the other day and asked what record store she could pick up a certain artist’s CD from. After informing her that Best Buy has a pretty decent variety of CDs, I told her that “I really don’t buy CDs in the store anymore. I buy music online because I like to know what I’m getting first. I only buy what I like.” This is huge coming from someone who collected over 500 CDs by the time she was 23.
Interestingly enough, two days after my sister purchased the CD, she called to tell me that the CD was a disappointment. Out of 13 songs on the CD, she only liked three or four of them. With the creation of single retailers like iTunes, where you can listen to a snippet of a song before you buy it, why would you buy a new CD (online or in a store) if it ‘aint good?!!!
I don’t want to take too much away from artists who pour their hearts out in their albums, cuz they’re artists and they’re sensitive about their music…but are A&R execs really doing their jobs? What happened to listening parties that real music fans attend? Damn, I know artists have to grow in their creativity, but listeners are fickle. If you disappoint me on one album, chances are that I will be pretty skeptical about buying the next one. That is why the singles market, which nearly disappeared in the 90s, is back in full force.
Even so, an RIAA Report released in August of 2007 proclaimed that “the CD has become a better value than ever before,” costing an average of $15 in 2006, down from $21.50 in 1983. Is that really a good value if out of 15 songs, you only like five, which you could have bought on iTunes for $5? I give kudos to people like Lupe Fiasco who made an album with 17 or so tracks, which sells for about $14. I like 10 of them, so I bought 10 of them for $10 on iTunes. Now that's value!
With RIAA’s reasoning, I think I’ll stick to living the single life.
Peace and Love,
Melodee J.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Deep. Real deep. Hope it inspires some of the musicians out there to dig a little deeper, but chances are the market will be further consumed by "ringtone records". Albums will soon go the way of the dinosaur.
You're right. Listeners are fickle. At first I had said the whole album was wack, but then I had to retract my statement because after being a captive audience to it in a long car ride I came to like some of the cuts. But you can't just scrap the album altogether. Like you said these artists pour their hearts into their work and we should at least give 'em a chance. A song may not be the best produced track, but the artist may have had something to say that you identify with . Now if there is NO message AND the production is trash, then I'd feel cheated. But sometimes I'll have a mood that fits perfectly with a certain song or appreciate a song that most other people wouldn't. If we scrapped albums altogether artists might not have the liberty to create art anymore.
Post a Comment