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It's titled The Cheapening Of Music, but I'm not so sure about this.
Creating an album — not just a collection of songs, but an entire “experience” has long been an artform in and of itself. It’s part of what got me interested in design early on: studying the packaging design and album artwork of bands and artists I worshipped. The collection and artwork combined with a group of songs recorded within the same time period always seemed like a time capsule of what the band was doing at that moment. But with the ability to buy a single song immediately via the web, will a shift materialize? Will we go back to the days of 7” 45s, where the single ruled?
When my friend said that he believed music has been cheapened, he was referring to the fact that music is now everywhere. It’s in your cellphone, on the web, on your microwave, TV, toys, etc. It’s even a marketing tool. It’s become easier to get, but will that affect the music itself?
To me, the near ubiquity of music doesn't cheapen it -- rather, it changes the audience for the piece. There's a challenge in writing a meaningful piece of music for a audience that is only going to hear thirty seconds of it; I would say that's actually harder than taking 3:05 to get your thoughts across.
Music is cheapened if it becomes mass produced and thrown out the door just to fill the gaping maw of consumerism. On the one hand, this has been happening for quite some time now. On the other hand, quality still manages to find it's way out, too. I'd be willing to hazzard a guess that it's probably in the same proportions it's always been in; it's just that the larger numbers of the dross drowns out the gold.
The author goes on to talk about websites and music:
What has become crucial is the band’s web site — the depot for news, info, photos, music, videos, etc. It’s possible that the web site will become even more important as digital distribution gains even more steam. Perhaps an “album” will really be a web site devoted to a group of songs released at the same time. Each “album” will stand on it’s own like an archived article.
I'm rather sympathetic to this point of view. Jeff Jarvis has been harping on this for quite some time -- the media marketspace (particularly the entertainment marketspace) is moving more and more towards a conversation rather than a lecture.
Under the old model, musicians would lay their work out and hope that people liked it. Feedback tended to be record sales, as well as the occasional letter and meet and greet. Now, fans email, IM, comment (et al) back to the artists directly.
It's a good thing, I think.
And thanks to Paul for the tip.
Posted by Casper at August 9, 2005 10:58 PM