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Its 2010, digital downloads are everywhere. In books, movies, music, video games. A major unexpected shift in all mediums is happening and it is inevitable. I wouldn’t want to buy four of those things in digital form and then buy one in physical, I think if I'm buying that many things in digital form, I understand the convenience of purchasing digital products, and therefore will purchase everything that way. No matter how much you want to punch and kick this change in the face, convenience will win over the credibility of music CD's. How I see the future is in many ways is the total destruction of media meccas like Best Buy, Gamespot, or any place that strictly sells any medium that can later be digitized. Why would I go to Best buy to buy a music CD when I can download it, and for a cheaper price? Better yet, why pay anything at all?
 
Well it’s rare when this happens, I went out, and found an artist I had listen to almost 10 years ago. She had released a CD recently that I was looking forward to. In an impulsive way, I snatched the CD, rushed to the counter, purchased it, and preceded into my car which had it’s CD player neglected by me for the last two years since the purchase of the car. It had an Ipod connector and I forgot I even had a slot visible for CD's. I looked at my CD player, I pondered if this old decrepit technology still worked? I tried to open the wrap around the CD; how hard it was to open it without a key or a sharp object, it was forgotten to me, so instead, I clawing at the case with my unshapely teeth hoping to nibble enough plastic to remove the wrap off the case. Once done, I had to face the sticker wrapped around one of the edges. Ooh right Music Industry, people would still want to steal music CD’s, right, I forgot, must take extra precautions! The fact was, I hadn't bought a CD in such a long time, I had forgotten the use of such necessities. Alas, I removed all the useless plastic that will one day kill more animals than the plastic had a justification for existing, and I opened the CD case.
 
What is this book that comes with the CD? Ooh my, is that a booklet describing to me who worked on each piece of music? Are those lyrics to the song printed in the booklet? This was so unnecessary; I can easily type the name of the song on Google and then the words “lyrics” to easily search anything I needed. Information at my fingertips, it’s pointless to waste so much paper for it. But still, it did have remarkably beautiful artwork on the CD, in the booklet, and on the case, filled with mesmerizing sketches of the artist who had worked on the CD. It was glossy, and beautiful.
 
But enough of that, anxiety abruptly took over me, made me pop the CD out of the case and launch it into the car stereo. I heard music in my ears, the symphony of a good song, blasting with settings pumping the low bass too high and the high’s too low, typical for a car. My car would rumble with the sound of each drum beat and electric bass notes hitting the track, the audio quality was notably better. Had it been a digital download, I wold have never noticed, but I heard the clarity of all the instruments, all the notes, all the rhythms, I almost felt horrified to realize what digital download disposed of. Digital downloads may have eluded me to think that what I hear as far as sound quality goes is of minimum interest; that if I want a true audible experience, I’d attend the artist concert. This is true perhaps, or not, it’s really a personal preference I have no quarrels with.Through the entire audible length of the music CD, I sat there in my car, listening, and eventually, as I drove around aimlessly looking for excuses to keep listening, what happened to me was rare. This event almost never takes place anymore, but for me to take a chance and purchase a CD full of music that could have all been garbage, actually turned into a treasure of musical tones. That is rare. Every song from the first track to the last mesmerized me, enchanted my memories of a happier time, of what it was like to buy a CD filled with good music. I miss that time. I had made a purchase not knowing if what I had purchased will be good or bad, but purchased based on faith, in trust of the artist ability to render music that would justify the money spent. What is this, the mid-90’s? I don’t do that now, instead, I go to grooveshark listening to the whole album, and then buy what I specifically liked. Done. So to purchase something and have it be a good purchase without a preview was rare. I am not the only one that uses grooveshark or youtube to preview the entire song before it's purchase, and the paranoia that exist in me is the fault of the music industry, from the age of CD’s and on.This, the music industry did to themselves, starting with the following...- One, the music industry was so bent on destroying Sony’s DAT recorders and players, that it forgot all about CD’s, let it slip and didn't realize its ability, it’s potential.- Two, When the music industry did realize it's potential, it only found the gold hidden behind the sales of the CD’s. At that time it sold more trash than it knew what to do with it. In fact, the music industry sold more than it ever had in the entire historic span of it's existence. I don’t remember how many times I bought a CD for one song, and only listened to that one song simply because all the other songs were just a terrible waste of space, and to have them acquired along with that one track I did like, it was a bother to even listen to the CD at all. This didn’t happen once either, but almost every time I bought a CD in the height of it's sales before I discovered Napster and CD-R.- Three, Napster; thank you Napster, you not only saved me money but saved many many artist, who were at that time, being completely ripped off by the music industry. And to discover new artists, artists that were not even in this country due to the music industry’s zealous claims of not finding them marketable in the propaganda machine they created, it was wonderful to beat the system. When people started to download illegally, they said it was karma; regardless of if you believe in karma or not, it’s agreeable that they deserved it. The industry had caused so much damage to music at that point, that by late 90’s, It only made sense to pirate. I began to build a mp3 library around that time, filled with music of my taste, and so did millions, perhaps billions of other. And because of those three major things, the music industry never made the same amount of money it had made off of music CD sales, ever.Though I don’t pirate music anymore, why would I still consider purchasing CD’s? With IPods and Zune player and many forms of digital distributions available, it would seem idiotic to purchase a CD instead. For me, purchasing what I want, when I want, wherever I want, made me a very happy man. Never would I have to take trips to the music store for music. Never would I have to make sure I attend the music store at store hours. Never would I get odd looks from employees when I asked for an artist they had never heard of. It was a blessing.
Also, hate Apple or not, if they hadn’t standardized the price of what a track should be worth, $.99, I’d be paying what I paid when I bought CD’s, only, without all the added features like a booklet, a CD case, and a physical copy I could store away. How else do you expect the publishers to sustain their vast corrupt empire than to charge us the amount you’d pay on a CD, for a digital download, but, you know, without all the distributing.  If you have a beef with digital download, you can join the group of people who think vinyl was a better format than tape cassettes and CD’s, which in truth, it was. The arguments used against digital download were the same arguments used against cassettes and CD’s. People did complain but no one cared. The big vinyls would have so many goodies to offer the masses, but convenience will always take a step up above quality. We all purchase music to listen to it, it’s as simple as that, anything that is not relating to ease of listening is automatically unconventional, and therefore irrelevant.No, I wont be turning this CD I bought into a digital form and playing it off of my Ipod. The quality will stain. Besides, I miss that about music, it’s quality, as it degrades from format to format. Plus if I rip the CD in a lossless compression, I’d have less space for other songs on my Ipod, best if the music is left in the CD. This will be the last CD I ever buy simply because I want to remember how much fun I use to have listening to them, a concept that almost seems illogical to repeat at this day and age.Remember the time when you had a case full of music CD’s? Remember the time while you drove, you flipped through the CD case trying to find the CD you wanted to listen to, cautiously looking at the road while you turned your head over to give attention to the CD cases and back to the road? Some people would have 6 CD changer in their cars, how I’d envy them. Remember the time when we use to carry large chunky CD players with us because they were portable then? And most, if not all, had that 8 second skip free feature which later turned into 25 then 45 second. I’d shake my CD player to make sure it worked. One CD player I had played music even when I had the CD player lid open, it kept playing because of that 45 second skip feature, that was so cool! I remember all of those things, some more familiar than other, but desirable memories mostly. I will cherish them, in remembrance of the good times. I will cherish them in this CD, the last CD I’ll ever purchase.This is the last music CD I bought.

Posted via email from FFmusic Dj's Blog