There’s my Jimmy Fallon reference for the day.
There’s this new thing called “digital music.” It’s odd…nowadays, you can just get online, pay some money with your credit card (or PayPal….but that’s another blog in itself), and instantly have music on your computer. Yes, full songs! Full albums, even!
Anyways, facetiousness aside (was that facetious? I feel like it was facetious, but maybe I’m misconstruing the definition of “facetious” unknowingly). Nothing I’ll say here is groundbreaking or anything. I was just thinking about the era of digital distribution, and wondering what other people thought. For me:
Pro – It’s possible to have wonderful sites like Guvera, Noise Trade and Come&Live! that can give away free music legally. Bands have such an easier time getting their name out there by giving away free downloads of whatever single they’re promoting at the time, and bands that want to bless others with albums (like the Come&Live! artists) don’t have to worry about losing money by giving people free physical copies. It’s also made it easy for sites like ours to operate. Record labels don’t have to send us physical copies anymore; they can just send us the song files and we can get started instantly listening and writing about the album.
Con – I know for me, ometimes when something is so easy to attain, I feel like I don’t appreciate it as much as I should. It’s like I got a prize for putting absolutely zero effort into getting it. I buy an iTunes card, go to the iTunes store, and click a couple buttons and I have ten new songs at my disposal. I still prefer going to the store, paying an actual person, and walking out holding the music in my hands. Then there’s the awesome anticipation I feel when I’m walking to the car and I actually have to wait a time – albeit a relatively short time – till I unwrap it and pop it into my stereo. Then there’s the album artwork and booklet and the feeling of actually owning a physical thing that you spent your money on. I feel so much more appreciative of my music when I can hold it and, I don’t know, smell it, I guess.
What do you guys think? Obviously not everyone will agree with me, and I do have more pros and cons, but I wanted to just put one, and see what you guys have to say. Have at it!