The Internet Killed the LP
Aug 2nd, 2007 by Mr. Miles
Remember that feeling you used to get when you just dropped $18 hard earned dollars on the newest latest from the mom and pop record store around the way? I would tear the plastic off with my keys or my teeth, rush to my car, put the disc in, and promptly start reading the album credits, liner notes, and the thank you’s in the back.
I would devour all of this information so I would be ready to talk about it all when I got to school the next day with my favorite lunchroom clique, “the heads”.
We would argue about everything from the cover art, to the track listing, to the jawns from the mixtapes that didn’t make the album. A new CD release was an event. It was something you waited for and were excited about. The quality of the music helped to support the atmosphere of it being an event. Even when the music wasn’t phenomenal, it was at least still listenable.
Fast forward to the post Napster age and all of that has changed. I haven’t bought a physical CD since Common dropped BE. I haven’t read the inside cover of a CD since before then. The release of a new CD is no longer an event. No one skips school to be the first person in the lunch room with the new Lil Wayne CD. They just do a limewire search about 2 weeks before the drop date and Bam! You and every other fool with a DSL connection have instant access to every mixtape, album, white label, b side, and remix every released since the dawn of time…and it’s killing the music.
I was never the dude who was all about “we’re taking food out of the artists’ babies mouths” Everyone knows show money and endorsements are how the smart artists get their cake up anyway. But, what we (the downloading generation) have inadvertently done is cause the artist to feed our quick fix mentality. The fans want the new music yesterday and they’ll do anything to get it….except go down to the mom and pop and actually spend money to get it.
Some artists and mixtape DJ’s have come up with innovative ways to make the release of new music an event and still be able to feed that lust for the newest latest; Talib and Madlib dropped a free Album ( Liberation ) this year and that was type ill. But most artists just aren’t going to spend money on production and studio time and engineers to give us FREE!
Personally, I’m going to chill on getting so much music from the internet. The ability to snatch up new shit early used to give me a high. I stayed up all night to download the Black Album two weeks before the retail release and I felt like I had just won the superbowl. I recently did the same thing with Finding Forever, Eardrum, and Desire…and I don’t even listen to those records anymore. The easy access and quick fix have ruined my ability to enjoy the music. Also, the fact that albums leak to the internet track by track take away from the event-like atmosphere of a new release. I had heard 80% of finding forever on Nah’Right before it was released.
I implore you, my fellow bloggers in the Black Blogosphere, please, stop posting the new ish. I’m an addict to the music and I love to get high…but these days I need more and more to reach that high…
Detox anyone?
Technorati Tags: Talib Kweli, Common, Monch, Finding Forever, Eardrum, Desire, NahRight, Hip Hop, Detox, Dr. Dre, MadLib, LIberation
I might be older than you but also remember the time I received as a gift my first vinyl (it was an album from eric carmen and I still remember the lyrics of two songs). But like it or not we are in the internet age and we have to adapt (remember Darwin?).
There is no need to “publish” this comment, but look at what we are doing… I would also appreciate your comment (who can also stay private if you want)…
[...] The internet killed the LP? Published at August 2, 2007 in Uncategorized. Jovan explains why he is thinking that the Internet killed the LP. Maybe he is right? But as “nature abhors a vacuumâ€, and following Darwin’s theory, artists and labels will have to adapt. Any comments ? [?] Share This [...]
cosign. me and my homey was just talking about how mp3 and internet has killed the industry and iTunes’ put the close on the casket.
the internet gave birth to all of these mixtape djs.
music has truly become crack…not necessarily consistent good crack.
but the internet also leveled the playing field somewhat for individuals who want to get into the game and build an international fanbase. so im not mad at that.
i probably would’ve slept or never heard about Black Milk without that free mixtape that was floating around on the net.