Digital music: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era?
- 4/24/08 11:47 AM
i miss the smell of new cds
by kamooters - 4/24/08 3:29 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
that's how i voted
I don't miss much...
by Ivan Thomson - 4/24/08 3:30 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The one poll entry that grabbed my attention was 'actually owning something'.
What did we actually own? The plastic? You didn't own the music. Heck you didn't even own the label or the artwork or the lyrics or anything. You owned the plastic.
The only good thing about it was going to the store and meeting some people. But that was it. The prices were way too high and you had (and still have) no legal rights to anything.
So, there is nothing to miss except the human social element I think. But the ease of transportability and other useful features of digital music is great.
generations
by MikeDelMar - 4/24/08 3:36 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
What I don't miss is a format becoming obsolute every decade or so. Without sharing my age, i will share that I still have a box of 8-Tracks that I pull out occasionally to review the titles and show my kids and their friends who never heard of 8-Tracks. I also have LP's, cassettes and CD's so dueling formats is a drag. I started to buy CD's of some of my favorite titles from the "old" days to get better quality. I joined www.yourmusic.com a few years ago to get new CD's (a good deal at $6.99 delivered - almost better than downloading). The first new CD I got was Blind Faith - remember that one?
LP Album covers are what I miss as the printed materials in CD's are barely readable and the art is miniturized. There's nothing like a tricked out album cover.
Of the older generation
by dena1936 - 4/25/08 4:21 PM In reply to: generations by MikeDelMarThe foldouts were fantastic too. I have cutouts of the Beatle and many large posters. My 37 year old son is asking me to leave him all of my LPs.
I do miss QUALITY!!
by vfelix - 4/24/08 3:40 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Yes, that's it, good old hi-fi quality from high end equipments, using vynil albums, top grade CD's or SACD's. Quality is what's missing; music in mp3 is a mockery, nothing else. And a fabulous big business which fools those who can't tell the difference between a rabitt and a cat.
Vasco Felix - Lisbon - Portugal
I don't miss anything
by lightningboy7 - 4/24/08 3:41 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I don't miss anything because I am 14 and I didn't even know what an mp3 player was because I was only 4. I have grown up in the digital age. I have only had 4 CD players. 2 portable (one broke the other I gave to my mom). As for the other 2, they were boom boxes (first one broke the other one collects dust). I am on my first digital music player which is a PSP.
I miss my 12 inch album art work sighhhhhhh
by dpl2112 - 4/24/08 3:41 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Yes I'm a RUSH fan Hugh Syme artwork on a 12 inch cover is twice as big as cd and no size on mp3 1 inch album picture can do the trick , being a complex fan like the music of Rush I also enjoy artwork and lyrics.
Favorite albums all scratched up...nope, don't miss that!
by joanmb - 4/24/08 3:54 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Trying to get fluff out of the stereo needle without dropping it? Nope, don't miss that either...Being all awkward not wanting to lend out a beloved disc for fear it will get damaged or lost...nope, don't miss it...Not being able to locate an old song heard on the radio without paging through catalogs in six point type, then hoping to find the (of course out-of-print) record at the local library...only to find it was reserve only, listen on the library's poor quality player...nope don't miss that either!
Today I can find all kinds of old, obscure, or new and really cool music online - and find communities of people who are likewise fans of "weird" styles, without getting dissed by music store clerks or music room librarians, too. I can find commentary of much greater breadth and depth than I could ever get off the liner notes, and links to still more tunes by the same composers. I can find performances too, of songs that I've only read about in books, or as yellowing sheet music, brought to life again by new fans to spread the joy.
I don't think we've lost anything, I think we've gained lots more than we even realize with the acceptance of digital music.
Album Art and liner stuff.
by klafex - 4/24/08 3:57 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The subject brings me right to the Beatles White Album. There is no other medium that could bring you four full-color portraits on really nice, heavy, glossy stock. Plus The huge fold-out page with all the song lyrics in readable-sized text and the vast assortment of photos. (One of which was the mysterious picture that looked like Paul McCartney with glasses but was supposed to be William Campbell, the winner of Britain's Paul McCartney look-alike contest who mysteriously disappeared). On and on with the Paul McCartney "death" and analysis of many Beatle album covers, looking for clues...Great Stuff!
I don't miss much.
by BirdDog01 - 4/24/08 4:12 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I don't miss much because I still buy music on CD. Most of what I buy I have to buy online because the stores never stocked it. There was a brief period when the stores had classical and jazz but not pop, but that passed quickly. During that period I replaced my vinyl classical collection with CDs. Beyond that core repertoir I lean toward Dixieland jazz and music for wind band. Turtle's never carried it, and neither does Best Buy or Barnes Ignoble. Tower was a relatively good source, but the nearest store was a long way off so getting there was a rare treat.
I don't think I listen to as much music.
by ditz237 - 4/24/08 4:25 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Since I started downloading music, I only download the songs that I want. I don't listen to the whole album anymore. Who knows what I'm missing? Especially that hidden track. I've also been looking for some of the old stuff that I couldn't afford as a kid. Still nothing too new.
In my day...
by CharleyJ - 4/24/08 4:40 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Do not get me wrong. I truly appreciate the portability of the MP3 and the age of downloadable music. I appreciate the advancement of technology. However, that appreciation comes with knowing where I use to be and those experiences of once upon a time.
To me Boston is an AOR band. Kiss is an AOR band. Kansass, aud infinitum. None of those greats will ever sound the same on my iPod as they did when I had to struggle to get the cello wrapper off without bending or scratching the cherished art work. That in itself was a rite of passage.
The act of balancing the record between the palms so that the fingers never touched the surface from bed to stereo is now forever lost. The way shopping bags and plastic littered the path across my bedroom creating obstacles that threatened that balancing act. It was the way the jacket and liner notes were reverently placed, just so. The ritual of that first cherry popping play after a week of mowing lawns was repeated nearly a thousand times before college.
Then CDs came along and were being introduced commercially. I was with the rest of the staff at a small Midwestern radio station when the salesman from Phillips gave us his presentation and a glimpse into my future.
I caught myself the other day, opening up a box that had long since been packed and stored – pulling back the acid free tissue that seperates each memory. I gently pressed the opposite sides together to create a gap just large enough to reach in… With a quick glance to see who might have been watching… I drew in a quick wiff of Pink Floyd.
All of those memories are on my iPod. I love each and every one of them. I rejoice each time one of them gets caught up into the shuffle. However, the pops and the crackles have been digitally erased. Their sound as true to studio as it could ever possibly be made. Yet Roger Waters just doesn’t sound the same without that gentle arm pressing down upon him via the vinyl disc.
Eventuaully, the war wounds will be spoken of fondly that were earned using inappropriate tools to open the retail display packaging. One day I will speak proudly as a veteran explaining why the ruined jewel case liner notes of a certain Crowded House compact disc just so happens to resemble a bloody finger print.
Carpal tunnel may one day be remembered with equal reverence by another generation, not mine. Yet, stories of how bad that cramp was will never hold up comparatively to the story my son could tell. Nothing would ever compare to the sound the old stereo made when it was fired up and he heard those awesome guitar chords for the first time – as they were meant to be heard with the original pops and crackles. He'll remember his first choking reflex inhaling the dust from a lesser protected release.
Sure, he may mention the problems he had when that driver mysteriously disappeared from his hard drive. But he will hold with greater reverence the thoughts of the police being called to quell the loud music coming from that storage locker when Dad got caught huffing Dark Side of the Moon.
Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era?
by corisco - 4/24/08 4:42 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There are many things I miss from those times, starting with those times themselves. Life was much better and easier...
But regarding music, the vinyl format, the art covers (they were spectacular sometimes), the labels, the smell of a brand new album when you broke the seal, going to the music stores and chatting with people who would eventually recommend something else that was just as good or better than the music you were used to.
But most of all, dealing with the records, playing, selecting music to record a tape and listen to that tape later, or just looking at the records while they played and be amazed how music could come out so beautifully from a simple piece of plastic. Now-a-days I'm a sound engineer and own a collection of over 11,000 albums being only 3,000 CD's and never bought any digital music on the Internet or anywhere else. But I keep buying records, though. It's not as easy to find record stores to as it used to be then, but you still can meet people and share opinions and recommendations. It's hard to change old habits, especially when they do you so much good.
Is the music store closed for good?
by wadetemple - 4/24/08 4:57 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Album artwork. Yes, Albums have art.. mp3 does not!
Liner notes. (There is no discuss of the person, band, or music process.. concert.
The social aspect of it. Who is making the music again?
Tangible aspect of actually owning something. No album cover to read.
Going to music stores. The social connection has been removed.
The new album "smell." .. not sure about this.
Potential resale value. Used record store is only record store now.
What are you talking about? Buying music online is all I know. (Do you even own a music CD?) Sounds like person does not want to leave
home.
I don’t miss any of it. (Really? Why not?) Same.. as above.
Other (What is it?) Talking about music in a music store with
a friend. Go to used music store or BestBuy.
What do I miss most
by pat0814 - 4/24/08 5:07 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you miss most about the pre-MP3-download era? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I miss 12" vinyl art. God there was some really ground breaking art on both the front cover and back cover of album jackets. Miles Davis, ELO, Emmerson Lake & Palmer, Steely Dan and Nirvanna. This is just to metion a few. Ihave still yet to find any CD or MP3 box that has comparable art.
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