The end of music packaging

[MrKnobs]

When music goes digital "Everything is going digital: a whole generation, raised on MP3s, is connected to computer screens and handheld devices that convey, in ever-increasing quantities and formats, all their audiovisual needs," says the artist who works in Toronto under the name A Man Called Wrycraft. "I believe CD manufacturing will wind down in three to five years. And when music is universally delivered on flash drive sticks and via the Internet, and stored on hard drives and iPods, you have to wonder how packaging will play a part. When I was a young kid, I had this sci-fi book that projected a future with no newspaper on the front doorstep, just a giant flat touchscreen device that was television, telephone, and computer terminal all at once. I guess they forgot to mention radio in the book.

 

They forgot to mention window, too. Samsung has made a window that can be transparent, show scenery, or be a computer screen.

 

Some SciFi author wrote stories about "slow glass" long ago. The idea was huge sheets of the glass were put up on hillsides facing beautiful scenery, and it took years for the images to make their way through the glass. So after a few years, the glass was harvested and put in your home, so everyone could have beautiful scenery outside.

 

One of the stories was a murder mystery, since slow glass worked in both directions. A man had already been found guilty and executed, and the judge and a few jury members sat in front of the impounded window to see if they'd been right.

 

Terry D.

[MrKnobs]

I can't remember where I saw the quote but it was from the Small Face's Ian McLagan.

 

He's a funny old f*cker!

 

Some years back, my band opened for him here in Austin at Saxon Pub, and I begged him to move his huge keyboard rig just a tiny bit back to make some room for us on the stage. He replied, "Sorry mate, can't do that. I'm a {censored}ing star!"

 

Terry D.

[Ernest Buckley]

Yesterday when my sister handed me my EP insert prints, she says "do you think these are worth it though? I mean with everyone downloading music nowadays" Kind of a sad point to make, but I then told her about the nostalgia I have for browsing used CD stores and sometimes finding art that just grabs me - and gets me into a new band perhaps (this happened once). Or just appreciating and having so much anticipation reading the liner notes, lyrics, looking over the art. I had a case of CDs with album inserts/booklets I don't know what happened to

 

We live in a disposable society where music is background music to most. Art and photography are for a few artsy types... or something to throw on a wall like a piano is a piece of furniture to throw photos on. Album releases need to be celebrated, almost with the same fanfare as a wedding. People need to be received into a large open space where they can socialize for a few minutes and then the show begins.

 

Albums need to be treated by musicians like artwork. The room is darkened, the crowd quiets down, a large screen is revealed and the music begins while images and film are displayed on the screen. Audio and visual coming together, both working towards a common goal to reach the listener/observer. Is this a movie or a piece of music? Its both and when done right, the emotion you feel is created by both. You`re not sure if you`re affected by what you`re seeing or what you`re hearing but you know if one is missing, its not the same.

 

I think this is where music and film need to go. We need to meet the listener and viewer where they are and that has changed in the last 2 decades.

[thankyou]

 

There's a show (the name of which escapes me) on NPR that couples interviews with concert performance. I enjoy that format because you sometimes get to learn about the process that created the music and you get the audience reaction to both the music and the interview. Best, Geoff

 

Austin City Limits has been doing musician interviews after the performance segment. It's always engaging.

[PermaNoobie]

 

T Some SciFi author wrote stories about "slow glass" long ago. The idea was huge sheets of the glass were put up on hillsides facing beautiful scenery, and it took years for the images to make their way through the glass. So after a few years, the glass was harvested and put in your home, so everyone could have beautiful scenery outside.

 

 

Bob Shaw. "Light of Other Days" won the Hugo

[Phait]

 

We live in a disposable society where music is background music to most. Art and photography are for a few artsy types... or something to throw on a wall like a piano is a piece of furniture to throw photos on. Album releases need to be celebrated, almost with the same fanfare as a wedding. People need to be received into a large open space where they can socialize for a few minutes and then the show begins. Albums need to be treated by musicians like artwork. The room is darkened, the crowd quiets down, a large screen is revealed and the music begins while images and film are displayed on the screen. Audio and visual coming together, both working towards a common goal to reach the listener/observer. Is this a movie or a piece of music? Its both and when done right, the emotion you feel is created by both. You`re not sure if you`re affected by what you`re seeing or what you`re hearing but you know if one is missing, its not the same. I think this is where music and film need to go. We need to meet the listener and viewer where they are and that has changed in the last 2 decades.

 

 

I very much like this idea, and totally agree how its become background music. When the radio doesn't really take chances, and plays formulaic pop or pop rock or even rap, I can almost understand why.

[CTStump]

This is an excellent subject, as an reference to the original post, the eventual loss of physical media is a tragedy in my humble opinion and the singles on iTunes are the best example. When I first bought Albums(back in the1970's) it provided me a means of obtaining material from the artist that I couldn't get from listening to the radio. With the advent of FM radio, the station back then would play the whole sides of LP's which was about the same as you would get if you wanted to listen to more of what the Artist had to offer besides their top of the chart's hit's. I wish that we could back to those day's myself but it isn't looking that way. Ive always considered myself a B side junky and tended to prefer an artist's less than popular material(guess that's why I'm not a producer) to what made popular airplay. With all the Digital this and that, I think it's time somebody starts writing this stuff down or when we finally get unplugged nobody will know how to put it all back together. I at least will keep my acoustic Guitar handy if the day comes and I'm still around.

[UstadKhanAli]

 

I very much like this idea, and totally agree how its become background music. When the radio doesn't really take chances, and plays formulaic pop or pop rock or even rap, I can almost understand why.

 

 

So what should we all do?

 

WE SHOULDN'T LISTEN TO IT. Listen to KXLU. Listen to WFMU. They stream online. Shop at Aquarius Records (they're online) or Amoeba. Support worthwhile local music. Stop buying {censored}. Stop listening to {censored}. Stop making {censored}.

 

There's lots of good music out there, but the people broadcasting this, creating this, and putting it out need your support!!!!!!!

[Ernest Buckley]

 

I very much like this idea, and totally agree how its become background music. When the radio doesn't really take chances, and plays formulaic pop or pop rock or even rap, I can almost understand why.

 

 

I`m not talking about radio. I`m talking about the artists themselves taking charge and presenting their music in different ways, with video, along with a film, at an art exhibit, etc... As Ken mentioned, when the buying public stops throwing $$$ at specific music, labels and radio will get the hint but I`m not holding my breath for that.

 

Just today, I was listening to some talk radio and the DJ was interviewing someone who just paid $18,000 for 4 Super Bowl tickets plus hotel rooms. Now, to me, spending $18,000 on a 4 hour game and one night at a hotel is truly a waste of $$$ but there are people who have the $$$ to throw away and have no problem with this so these packages will continue to go up and up in price until scalpers can no longer demand these prices. This is sort of how radio works today. People keep listening/paying and thats what they will continue to be subjected to.

 

Artists can present their records in ways mentioned above.

 

This is going back around 6-7 years ago but I think it was Ani who was charging $30 or so for her albums. At the time, I could not understand that concept but no one can stop you from charging that amount of $$$ and if you are giving people something they crave, they will pay for it. My attitude has changed in this time and I know see what she was thinking. Its not about taking advantage of people if you look at if from a purely business perspective. For most of us "artist types", I think we have a hard time swallowing capitalism in large sums but its something to consider.

 

Getting this thread back to where it was originally... art work for records should be packaged & presented to an artists vision. Its not always affordable but nonetheless, every attempt should be made to see that vision through.

 

On a side note: my first CD was released almost 6 years to the day... I think I sold 50 copies to date.... more singles though! Anyway... I was planning a CD release party, checking out venues I could afford for 75-100 people... nothing extravagant but it was very limiting due to the budget which was maybe $500.

 

I needed a PA system, a screen behind the drummer that could play some videos and of course, some lights to set the mood...

 

the release party never happened because I could not get what I wanted without spending over a thousand dollars so I just squashed the idea.

 

I regret that we did not do something to celebrate the CD but at the same time, I did not want to present the music like I see so many others doing. This music was and still is very important to me and I wanted people to experience what I envisioned in my head and I could not do it properly, my attitude was to just not do it. This gets back to my idea that I mentioned in the previous post... the music listening experience must be made special. Thats what I wanted to do.

 

Going out to a bar to drink a beer and chat while a band plays some tunes in the background is not my idea of active listening and surely not what I wanted for my CD release.

 

All I`m saying is that the artist needs to take more of an active role in how their music is presented.

[beatpoet]

I still don't believe that CDs and the like will wind down within the next few years. I don't see housewives being too happy when they're given a USB stick with their Adele album on at Christmas - and the industry knows that. My mum even still uses VHS tapes religiously. It's a wierd one with packaging for me, I like to have CDs so I can continue adding to my collection, but all my listening is exclusively through iTunes or iPod. Somehow the physical product will stay available I think, just as an old skool thing for music fans. Vinyl hasn't been doing too badly recently. Anyway, independent record shops (if they continue to survive) will still stock old CDs and vinyls.

[JeffLearman]

Billstr: I agree, except for your timetable. Having lived through the vinyl-to-CD revolution, I predict it'll take quite a bit longer. People don't change their habits quite that fast, and plenty of us are still driving cars that don't connect well to an iPod. But I'm quibbbling.

 

 

I remember people complaining about the demise of the album cover because of cassettes. It just keeps dwindling, I suppose.

Yeah, well, Few people really bought music on cassettes; they bought albums and recorded them or their friends' albums. But the CD format definitely had a similar effect.

 

 

And as I keep pointing out, for music fans like me who purchase international music, field recordings, etc., the packaging is *everything* because of the liner notes, photos of indigenous musicians, explanations of the music, etc.

The connected age has a simple solution for this; all you need is a URL. In fact, I first "published" my CD (just an amateur thing I passed out to annoy friends and family) with an 8-page booklet that took quite a bit of my time to print and assemble, and cost more in printer ink than the rest of the package. It had lots of info and all the lyrics, but folks kept asking me about the lyrics and when I said "they're in the booklet" I got "huh? booklet? Oh!" responses.

 

So I now distribute them with a single insert (printing on one side but folded over to work like a two-sided single insert) with a URL. Let 'em read it online!

 

Of course, someday those 8-page booklets will be worth big bux on ebay! (harhar)

[Jorge7]

I agree with some of you above that the transition from CD to the next music packaging standard will take longer than the few years being predicted/promoted. One thing that I think many people find important when buying music is to be able to go back and listen to it a year, 5 years, or 30 years later. We all have favorite songs, artists, etc. Many of us don't want to be at the mercy of some web based technology we don't control for access to music we have grown to love over the years. This kind of "ownership" of music like LPs and CDs typically requires having appropriate hardware (eg, record turntables, CD player), which has historically had slow 30+ year lifecycles. The USB standard is in flux and probably will be far into the future. Issues of memory architecture aside, USB2 is currently a standard on its way out, and we are headed toward USB3 for PCs and Thunderbolt for Macs and some PCs. Which standard will the USB key music packaging follow? Will there be a USB3 connector on one side and a Thunderbolt connector on the other? Will we have another betamax vs VHS fiasco? We can imagine this might become even more difficult depending on whether or not a true cross platform data transfer standard will emerge and last far into the future. Will we need to convert each song in current 16/44.1 .wav, .aiff, flac, mp3 or other format into formats that will be current in 10 or 20 years? For how long will software be backward compatible to today's standards? Where will the DRM/artist protection vs playback flexibility compromise eventually come down? Some of us do value musician and production credits, liner notes, cover art and maybe add-ins like production or biographic video documentaries as part of the music packaging. Surely there must be a practical way to include some sort of platform independent file or metafile with these in the package. How will we keep music a viable career option so musicians and associated production personnel can be paid a fair amount for their work and also live a reasonable lifestyle?

 

I think the "demise of the CD" and its replacement with some other means of music distribution will have to address these and many other complex issues. I think the 3-5 year time frame being promoted by some is too short for that to happen. And these questions don't take into account any possible future breakthrough in sound reproduction technology that may greatly surpass our current state of the art in sound quality.