Working class heroes
It is always uplifting to hear about the death of the CD single. As an inevitable consequence, it should mean that the more discerning ear will prevail and indicate its refusal to tolerate anymore the junk that is pop music. For decades the record industry has decided what got to number 1 in the charts. Music lovers were being told what they should be listening to and had no say in the matter. Top of the Pops made superstars to be adored by the masses. But in the future, there will be no Elvises or Beatles.
The incorporeal has replaced the physical, the MP3 has replaced the CD. Figures indicate that online sales of digital music double that of CD single sales. For the time-being, the broadband-equipped middle classes will now dictate what gets to number 1 and not Louis Walsh. Ripped audio criss-crosses the Internet at a phenomenal rate enabling listeners to discard music on a whim. Artists now really have to earn their crust. It's not good enough anymore to record an album with three hits and backfill with garbage.
When I was a kid, everyone knew what was number 1. Today, very few do. The MP3 has put paid to that. As the number of superstars diminishes, the number of working class music heroes increases. The sight of relatively popular artists selling their own merchandise after gigs has reinforced this view.
In Fact, Ah was lucky enough a while back to have enjoyed the company of Stars, an emerging band from Montreal. Asked whether or not the distribution of ripped music does them some damage, they replied that it actually helps raise their profile. They believed that were it not for this type of illegal music sharing in the first place, their Sugar Club gig would not nearly have been as well attended.
However, should the record companies get a hold of the digital music media like they did the mainstream media, the music landscape may revert to the superstar land of yore. Until then, keep on ripping.
Published by Colm.
The incorporeal has replaced the physical, the MP3 has replaced the CD. Figures indicate that online sales of digital music double that of CD single sales. For the time-being, the broadband-equipped middle classes will now dictate what gets to number 1 and not Louis Walsh. Ripped audio criss-crosses the Internet at a phenomenal rate enabling listeners to discard music on a whim. Artists now really have to earn their crust. It's not good enough anymore to record an album with three hits and backfill with garbage.
When I was a kid, everyone knew what was number 1. Today, very few do. The MP3 has put paid to that. As the number of superstars diminishes, the number of working class music heroes increases. The sight of relatively popular artists selling their own merchandise after gigs has reinforced this view.
In Fact, Ah was lucky enough a while back to have enjoyed the company of Stars, an emerging band from Montreal. Asked whether or not the distribution of ripped music does them some damage, they replied that it actually helps raise their profile. They believed that were it not for this type of illegal music sharing in the first place, their Sugar Club gig would not nearly have been as well attended.
However, should the record companies get a hold of the digital music media like they did the mainstream media, the music landscape may revert to the superstar land of yore. Until then, keep on ripping.
Published by Colm.
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