The Future of Music

Paedantic Basterd · 05-18-2012, 05:11 PM

I find all of these observations very depressing, being that I'm strongly in favour of physical ownership and the album format.

I must admit that I'm also saturated with music. I can't count the number of albums I've purchased that I've only heard once, let alone the albums I thought were great but never purchased to hear again.

duga · 05-18-2012, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bam You Have AIDS

I find all of these observations very depressing, being that I'm strongly in favour of physical ownership and the album format.

I must admit that I'm also saturated with music. I can't count the number of albums I've purchased that I've only heard once, let alone the albums I thought were great but never purchased to hear again.

It's depressing for you and me both. I never thought it could happen, but I've officially entered the "What happened to the good old days?" stage of my life.

I'm still struggling with finding a way to reduce the amount of saturation I'm presented with...I know there are brilliant albums I've listened to over the past few years that I can't even remember. It's depressing because I know if I had a physical copy sitting on my desk, I'd start browsing one day, run into it, and pop that sucker in. As a digital file on my computer, it's very easy to overlook or ignore.

Paedantic Basterd · 05-18-2012, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duga

I'm still struggling with finding a way to reduce the amount of saturation I'm presented with...I know there are brilliant albums I've listened to over the past few years that I can't even remember. It's depressing because I know if I had a physical copy sitting on my desk, I'd start browsing one day, run into it, and pop that sucker in. As a digital file on my computer, it's very easy to overlook or ignore.

I use RYM to rate items, and if it's below a 2.5 I won't bother with it again, but that still leaves me a good couple hundred albums I liked but may never hear again.

To help deal with it temporarily, I randomize the albums in my library every day and listen to whatever it selects, but it's not the most effective solution. I'm not complaining though. It's great feeling like there's simply too much good music.

duga · 05-18-2012, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackhammer

I personally think that it's a two edged sword. The art of a standalone album does seem like a dying art but only commercially. I doubt we will ever see multiple artists selling millions of albums like they did in the preceding decades because you can just grab the best/well known track off an album via the net (in whatever form) and move onto the next band.

The reverse side is extremely positive, never before have fans been able to sample and explore the sheer diversity of music because of the net and many bands both past and present are getting exposure they could only dream of even 15 years ago. Maybe that's why the album seems to be dying. The media and maybe close friends were pushing select albums and you barely had no choice other than to buy if you wanted to listen but now fans can turn around and say bollox, I found this band instead and they are 10x better so I am listening to them instead and therefore the listening demographic is much wider spread.

True, I guess I shouldn't complain too much...having too much music isn't really bad haha. Still, I just worry that the album being a dying art (even commercially) will diminish the quality of albums in the future. If no one wants to buy them or are interested, why put your heart and soul into an album's worth of material? Great singles make me want more, and most of the time I get more in the form of a complete album. I don't like that if I want more of a band, all I can look forward to is heaps of crap and one great song.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bam You Have AIDS

I use RYM to rate items, and if it's below a 2.5 I won't bother with it again, but that still leaves me a good couple hundred albums I liked but may never hear again.

To help deal with it temporarily, I randomize the albums in my library every day and listen to whatever it selects, but it's not the most effective solution. I'm not complaining though. It's great feeling like there's simply too much good music.

That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. It might not be the most effective...but at least some of the stuff I don't play often will get a spin here and there.

Zer0 · 05-18-2012, 05:42 PM

I was having an off-kilter conversation with a guy I share an office with not so long ago over fusing microcontroller chips with the human brain and the possibilities it could bring. It got me thinking about the possibility of streaming music directly to the human brain and doing away with the needs of mp3 players or streaming to your phone. However I think we're still a long way off from becoming cyborgs.

But more seriously, the future of music will become more and more focused on accessibility. Streaming to phones and other portable devices seems growing at the moment and in the future it could be possible to stream music to your digital watch. People are also caring less and less about sound quality with is a real shame. Vinyl, cassettes and even CDs sound so much richer compared to 128kbps mp3s and streamed audio that it's hard to figure out why people want to compromise sound quality for the sake of accessibility.

duga · 05-18-2012, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zer0

But more seriously, the future of music will become more and more focused on accessibility. Streaming to phones and other portable devices seems growing at the moment and in the future it could be possible to stream music to your digital watch. People are also caring less and less about sound quality with is a real shame. Vinyl, cassettes and even CDs sound so much richer compared to 128kbps mp3s and streamed audio that it's hard to figure out why people want to compromise sound quality for the sake of accessibility.

Only audiophiles such as ourselves really notice quality like that. It really does take a trained ear. I've noticed my hearing is much more discerning than most people as a result. There is a digital watch somewhere in my girlfriend's room that goes off the same time every night, but it's very faint because it's buried somewhere. Every time I mention how annoying the beeping is, she looks at me like I'm crazy. She can't even hear it, no matter how hard she tries.

**Janszoon** · 05-18-2012, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bam You Have AIDS

I find all of these observations very depressing, being that I'm strongly in favour of physical ownership and the album format.

I'm with you, especially about the ownership thing. I really don't like the idea of music access via subscription. It puts you far too much at the whim of what the provider chooses to carry.

PoorOldPo · 05-20-2012, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bam You Have AIDS

I find all of these observations very depressing, being that I'm strongly in favour of physical ownership and the album format.

I must admit that I'm also saturated with music. I can't count the number of albums I've purchased that I've only heard once, let alone the albums I thought were great but never purchased to hear again.

Saturated with music, I like that.

I think good music will always win out in the end. A lot of music today sounds a certain way just for the sake of sounding cool. This music is always short lived. Music has to mean something, has to hit you somewhere. Music has always been good ( with bad in there ). And throughout the ages, people have always viewed change in a precarious way. All things come to pass and we need to just go along with the ride and stop worrying about the future of things when we are in the present.

05-18-2012, 05:42 PM	#5 (permalink)
Zer0 ∞ Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 3,792	I was having an off-kilter conversation with a guy I share an office with not so long ago over fusing microcontroller chips with the human brain and the possibilities it could bring. It got me thinking about the possibility of streaming music directly to the human brain and doing away with the needs of mp3 players or streaming to your phone. However I think we're still a long way off from becoming cyborgs. But more seriously, the future of music will become more and more focused on accessibility. Streaming to phones and other portable devices seems growing at the moment and in the future it could be possible to stream music to your digital watch. People are also caring less and less about sound quality with is a real shame. Vinyl, cassettes and even CDs sound so much richer compared to 128kbps mp3s and streamed audio that it's hard to figure out why people want to compromise sound quality for the sake of accessibility. __________________ Last FM \| RYM \| The Final Sound

05-18-2012, 05:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
Paedantic Basterd Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 5,184	I find all of these observations very depressing, being that I'm strongly in favour of physical ownership and the album format. I must admit that I'm also saturated with music. I can't count the number of albums I've purchased that I've only heard once, let alone the albums I thought were great but never purchased to hear again.