The music market is spinning faster than the Big Four labels can follow... This was illustrated with painful clarity in a recent Economist article: Following a teenage focus group at EMI’s London headquarters, the participants were offered any and all that they wanted from a pile of free CDs. The kids took NOTHING! Ouch!
For more on the shift in buying habits away from the album-format CD to pick-and-download single track purchases, see this article at ars technica
How will this affect audiophile markets? Hell if I know. We’re not exactly a market force, but I suspect there will continue to be demand for well-recorded music. What we’re seeing is a technology shift. Hopefully the song remains the same…
Popping out the iPod earbuds for to listen to an LP? Vinyl is making a comeback. Time magazine reports about the resurgent interest in full-length LPs sweeping through high schools and colleges. They are drawn by the social aspect of listening to music with friends as well as the liner notes, album art and the better sound. The article includes a quote from a 15-year-old with over 1000 albums complaining about, “Bad sound on an iPod…” Well worth a read….
