Robert Smith talks about digital downloads and the day the music died

Started by scatcat, October 04, 2007, 14:21:15

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scatcat

As  Reported in The Herald Sun today October 4th: the day the music died by Cameron Adams;

" "Australians are still downloading entire albums-up to almost150 per cent this year...Local downloaders prefer to pick and choose. Many commentators blame this on growing disappointment with albums on the the heavy use of sub-standard material..many also blame the record industry for committing musical suicide.
Cure frontman Robert Smith is in the unusual position of sweating over the track listing of a new Cure album to be released in an environment in which many listeners will hear it only as part of a shuffle"

 
Robert says " I'm very aware of a younger generation having no concept of track listing, they just jump and shuffle on their iPod. I think it's an alien way of listening to albums. We are on th cusp of a serious shift in the way people listen to music. It's happening around us." The Cure have one album left on their deal with Geffen Records, and Smith sees a time when bands will bypass record companies altogether.
   Robert goes on to say" The strange thing is the Cure are one of the few bands who don't sell that many pick-and-mix songs. We actually sell albums. People still want Pornography the album. They don't just want A Hundred Years, they want the whole album.
Now It'll be very difficult to keep that idea of an album established. I think people want to hear albums from the past the way they were meant to be heard. I suspect that will fade. I won't be around to see it."  "


 
  I hope this does not mean the end is nigh!! :cry: What does it mean? I always certainly purchase albums, and would want the whole album and nothing but the whole album. What is the opinion out there?
scatcat :smth020
:smth020
Seventeen seconds
A measure of life

dsanchez

Quote from: scatcat on October 04, 2007, 14:21:15
"The strange thing is the Cure are one of the few bands who don't sell that many pick-and-mix songs. We actually sell albums. People still want Pornography the album. They don't just want A Hundred Years, they want the whole album.
Now It'll be very difficult to keep that idea of an album established. I think people want to hear albums from the past the way they were meant to be heard. I suspect that will fade. I won't be around to see it."

That's an interesting subject. I certanly can't say much, as this kind of marketing (buy-per-song) is really not that popular here in Peru, I mean, just few people have iPods, to have an idea. But I guess Robert belongs to the "old school" (which I agree with, by the way), but I don't know if this will be enough. I mean, Geffen will do anything to get more sells, and if this kind of strategy works in countries like the US, then they probably do it in the end.
2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo

scatcat

added:
there is more to the interview with Robert saying " It will be internet only within 5 years.There'll be no such things as CDs. It's kind of sad. We'll have gone through four different formats by then: vinyl, cassettes, CDs and digital"
"we are on the cusp of a serious shift in the way people listen to music. It's happening around us"
"It's difficult for me to change my mindset. If I put on a old Bowie album or an old Hendrix album, I want to hear the songs in that order. If I heard them shuffled about I'd get very upset"



I feel the same way, it is hard to adjust us oldies.. I love my scratchy old vinyls.. and I don't want Robert to get upset.. I promise I won't play around with his track listing and respect his mixes!!! :smth023

:smth020
Seventeen seconds
A measure of life

Steve

Interesting topic this.
I know it's slightly different, but when the actually play a concert, isn't that sort of messing up the playing order a little bit?
I have to admit, I don't jumble cure albums up when I play them (although there are a few skips made on certain ones.....wms & MU come to mind), but this is when I'm listening to the whole thing.
I thought that an album, by definition (2. a phonograph record or set of records containing several musical selections, a complete play, opera, etc. ) enabled people to simply pick a song to listen to, however they wanted.
My only fear of the download side of things is that it will be typically lossy rubbish that becomes more readily available (look at itunes for example).

As long the consumer was being given a chance to access lossless music, then I don't have a problem. A good example of that can be found on the Porcupine Tree download store.
Saying that music will die is a touch ott i think. Just the way we access it will change & if that means I don't have to put up with the dis-interested work experience nerd in Media Markt or get the dreaded out of stock message from Amazon, then I'm all for it .
Bring on the bits. :D

Cheers
Steve
I know tomorrow's going to taste like cake
http://www.balatonfured.hu/en_index.php

scatcat

yeah, technology is advancing, and it's predicted things will head this way. I for one have gone through 3 computers in the last 8 years, just because of viruses, upgrading to keep up to date for my son's games etc.. But I understand where Robert is coming from.. he's an Artist, and we don't like people playing around with our creations, He pays particular attention to set lists for the concerts, he made sure he played different songs live here in Melbourne than he did years ago,. The new album should be something really from his heart!! :smth023

I don't have an iPod, and am pretty wary of downloading and file-sharing on the internet..

:smth020
Seventeen seconds
A measure of life

Steve

I have a prety good security setup on my laptop, so I'm pretty confident with my downloads.
I'll use reputable hosting sites like rapidshare too.
I love my ipod & I'd be lost without it, but nothing can substitute (IMHO) putting a well recorded, well produced CD or record on a proper system.
On the download thing though, I am much happier to send discs to folks & look forward so much to something dropping into my mailbox too.
I've made a lot of good friends like that (one of whom I am going to meet in Rome in Feb).
My only problem is that when I want to buy music (& I will buy it), in Hungary it's not always that easy to find something that may be readily available in the rest of Europe, so I rely on amazon & the like to get things.
The download option is a great way of doing it. Think about it. Saves energy of having to switch on every damn light in a shop, no shipping/ flying, no packaging additional to the disc case. It's quite green really.
You could, however argue that jobs would go, but people have to adapt & there is no escape from that.
Then you have the option to use it how you wish. Be it burn a disc, synch to the player of your choice, whatever you want.

Cheers
Steve
I know tomorrow's going to taste like cake
http://www.balatonfured.hu/en_index.php

scatcat

(does IMHO mean In my Honest Opinion or am I lost in translation?)
I have high security here too, and someone did give some albums loaded onto a USB memory stick thingy, again, my son had to show me how to drop and drag (I just can't get it!!).
But Having the artwork, lyrics and real thing still gets me purring every time.
I could burn a few cd's for ya, I know how to do that!! But would it have to be formatted for European hardware? WE got.. 80's, alternative, Reggae, classical, Powderfinger also my favourites.. :smth023

Seventeen seconds
A measure of life

boneheadhaggar

I always prefer putting on a CD sitting back and listening to it in full, and I too like the whole idea of the artwork/packaging rather than just having countless tracks on an ipod :rocker
its nice to be nice

silversand

@scatcat:
I've found two explainations for IMHO: In my honest opinion or in my humble opinion
Hope i could help you a little bit :)


I'm a person, who likes to listen to the whole album and not to single tracks.
I have an iPod, but when i import something on my iPod, i usally import the whole album, seldom single tracks.
Haven't bought something from iTunes yet.
If the Vinyls (i'm a vinyl fan :D) and CDs are no more, that would be sad. Because to put e.g. the lp on the record player and hear, for let me say a single moment that cracking noise, and to read the lyrics on the booklett from the CD that is really something i would miss.

If that would be the case, i would be forced to download the booklet, buy a jewel case for the CD i've burned, and that is not a enjoyment anymore :(.


Yes, you're right scatcat to have the Vinyl or CD in your own hand is great!!!  :smth023

Okay, if someone would like to buy an album or a track from the online music stores it's okay for me.
The download thing is a very good idea, i think. But i don't download many music, because i don't want get a virus or something like that. Not, because of that, also because it's too much.
Okay i have a Mac, but i think i have to be careful anyway :)
Still, better save than sorry :)

scatcat

thanx siversand xx I'm computer dyslexic ( is that how u spell it??) ..

viruses and trojans hide everywhere now ( paranoia setting in..sshh!!)

I know the ARTISTS get nothing compared to what the retailers, recording companies etc.. get , but if the future is without albums being released.. maybe i don't wanna be around either.. I would like royalties to go straight to the Artists, like the Cure.. 100% , that would make me feel better and maybe the Artists won't have the stand-over actions and the pressures of a contract with the recording labels, they would keep producing the music THEY WANT US TO LISTEN TO.

I'm sorry I'm an old fuddy-duddy,  :cry:

someone put me out of the misery ... I don't want The Cure to end!!!!! :cry:

:smth020
Seventeen seconds
A measure of life

Cure Freak

This is the main rerason I don't have an IPOD. I like to listen to a whole vinyl or cd they way it was intended. With no shuffle tracks.
And I hope The Cure don't stop recording because of the downloading situation.
I do download music. But it's only live recordings.
And I.also, love buying a vinyl or cd for the artwork, lyrics and all the lovely photos.

japanesebaby

Quote from: Cure Freak on October 04, 2007, 21:22:12
This is the main rerason I don't have an IPOD. I like to listen to a whole vinyl or cd they way it was intended. With no shuffle tracks.

well, one doesn't have to shuffle tracks on ipod/portable player - there's nothing in the machine that would force you to it. you can just as well listen to the albums as a whole... i do it all the time. yet my ipod is just something i keep with me so i have something to do when i sit on a bus to work/back to home. i never listen to new albums on ipod, i never download anything to it from the web. just have a couple of favorite "bullet-proof" albums there to keep me company. and i always listen to them as complete albums, i rarely skip tracks.
so ipods or mp3 players alone don't force anyone to any sort of listening habits. it's up to everyone's own choice how to use the hardware.

i think a much more scary thing about commercial downloads is that record companies are often actually selling downloads in mp3 only(!). personally i can't understand at all why anyone would pay for some shit quality mp3s - if you're going to pay for the music then you should pay for the real thing and not for some junk food. purchasing an album as a download is ok if one isn't into artwork/cd as a physical object etc. - but purchasing something in mp3s only is utterly nuts and makes no sense to me at all. i think that's what is killing music, if anything.


(about viruses, it's easy: just get a mac. :smth023
viruses are actually one of the reasons i don't even consider getting a pc anymore.)
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine

dsanchez

Quote from: japanesebaby on October 04, 2007, 22:17:30
(about viruses, it's easy: just get a mac. :smth023
viruses are actually one of the reasons i don't even consider getting a pc anymore.)

Computer viruses are mainly because of the operative system (which most of the times is Windows), and not really because of the machine itself. If someone has a PC and want to be sure that there won't be viruses, you can put a good anti-virus or switch to another operative system as Linux. Most viruses attack just Windows.
2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo

japanesebaby

Quote from: dsanchez on October 04, 2007, 22:26:47
Quote from: japanesebaby on October 04, 2007, 22:17:30
(about viruses, it's easy: just get a mac. :smth023
viruses are actually one of the reasons i don't even consider getting a pc anymore.)

Computer viruses are mainly because of the operative system (which most of the times is Windows), and not really because of the machine itself. If someone has a PC and want to be sure that there won't be viruses, you can put a good anti-virus or switch to another operative system as Linux. Most viruses attack just Windows.


you're right, and i was just about to add that if i'd ever consider getting a pc again i'd surely be running on linux. i wouldn't even consider windows - not only because of the viruses but because i think it's just amazingly clumsy and non-userfriendly OS in all.
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine

Cure Freak

Quote from: japanesebaby on October 04, 2007, 22:17:30
Quote from: Cure Freak on October 04, 2007, 21:22:12
This is the main rerason I don't have an IPOD. I like to listen to a whole vinyl or cd they way it was intended. With no shuffle tracks.

well, one doesn't have to shuffle tracks on ipod/portable player - there's nothing in the machine that would force you to it. you can just as well listen to the albums as a whole... i do it all the time. yet my ipod is just something i keep with me so i have something to do when i sit on a bus to work/back to home. i never listen to new albums on ipod, i never download anything to it from the web. just have a couple of favorite "bullet-proof" albums there to keep me company. and i always listen to them as complete albums, i rarely skip tracks.
so ipods or mp3 players alone don't force anyone to any sort of listening habits. it's up to everyone's own choice how to use the hardware.

Well, you have a point there. Maybe I just prefer the full quality that comes with a vinyl or cd. And IPODs do  have their advantages, like you said- something to have whern on a bus.