90% of your daily serving of corporatism!
(Copyright: Apple Inc.)
From 2001 to 2009, US album sales dropped 54.6% (Source, DigitalMusicNews.com).
You know, sometimes, as consumers, we take the products we use in our everyday lives for granted. Did you ever just stop to think what it would be like to not have microwaves? Yeah, me neither! We would have to take the extra 10 minutes to make our Ramen *gasp* on the stove!
Technology is defined by Wikipedia as this. However, you really don't have to click that link if you don't want, we all know what technology is. The short and sweet of it is that technology is stuff that makes other stuff easier. Boom. Simple as that.
As humans existing in the year 2013 we live in one of the single most technologically advanced societies in the history of mankind. As a society that is so visionary and forward-thinking, we've taken a liking to attempting to better every single aspect of every single facet of life to a point where convenience is the accepted norm. If we don't be careful, we may one day end up like John and Mary from Wall-E (looking at you, 'Murica).
Shawty thick. And that guy.
My point is, everything has become about convenience. I talked briefly about that in my previous post on pop music so I won't go into it any further. However, I want to now relate this whole idea of technology as a vehicle of convenience to the way that music is listened to today.
*DOONOONOONOONOONOOH*
Time for a brief history lesson. In 2001 and 2003, Apple introduced the world to the iPod and iTunes store, respectively. These two mechanisms were an extraordinary new way to capitalize on the mindset of music consumers at the turn of the century. On the heels of the short life of popular file-sharing programs like Napster, Apple launched iTunes. Not only was it a convenient, cheap, painfully easy way for consumers to purchase music legally, but, alongside the iPod, iTunes forever changed the way that people listened to music.
Let's try to put into perspective: since it's launch, the iPod has accounted for almost 90% of hard-drive based audio players on the market (Wikipedia). That means that for just about every ten people that owns an mp3 player, NINE of them have iPods. That's pretty significant. There are countless other stats to back up the absolutely massive popularity of Apple products in today's society. Just walk into any mall and count the number of people who DON'T have iPhones. Bet it's like... six, maybe seven. However, no stat, real or fabricated, is more impressive than the one at the beginning of this post.
"From 2001-2009, US album sales dropped 54.6%."
Why is this the most impressive stat, you may ask? Well, it's fairly simple and using the power of words, I will now relate it to my spiel on technology.
The convenience of the iTunes Store and the iPod effectively made the audio album obsolete.
There it is. These days, most people just say, "Oh I like that song. I'm going to download it on iTunes." Or, more likely, they say "Oh I like that song. I'm going to rip it from YouTube." Same idea, it's just pretty common practice for people to not want to pay $1.29 (Great job, Apple. Screwed the pooch with the price jump) for a single. It still happens because the iTunes store definitely makes money, but the main idea is the fact that it's a single song people are buying rather than an entire album.
In simpler times, as my mom and dad have explained to me many times, when you heard a song on the radio that you liked, you had to go down to the record store, shell out the three bucks (it's like triple that now, damn inflation) for the LP that the song was on and you would listen to the whole album. Crazy concept, right?! For some of you this may seem like a no-brainer (me included), but for many, this is a completely foreign idea. Why listen to the whole album when you only like one song??! (DUHH ONE SONG DUHH!!)
Well, because maybe there's another song on that, oh I don't know, Maroon 5 album that you could potentially really dig but you'll never get to hear it because you can't get past Moves Like Jagger and its 34 plays in your iTunes. Listening to music can be a really rewarding experience if you're willing to listen to more than that one song you heard on the radio. Just a thought.
Another thing I'd like to bring up is that music streaming, with namely Spotify at the forefront, is an increasingly popular way of listening to music. It's a way to experience the full extent of your favorite artist's music without having to buy the full album. Seriously, this is kind of an unrelated tangent but if you haven't heard of/used Spotify I would highly suggest it. I have a friend who recently downloaded it and has rediscovered a love of all types of music. One thing she has pointed out to me numerous times is how, through playlists or albums that I've sent her or through just perusing artist pages, she's been able to put names to songs that she knew but didn't really know, ya know?
Something important to remember when speaking on music listening is to each his own. While it's evident that because there is a more revolutionary, more convenient technology befitting the music-listening world now in the iPod, that doesn't mean you have to be subject to the norm. I, for one, still buy CD's off Amazon from time-to-time. Why do I do it? I guess I'm just a sentimental guy and there's something very real to me about a physical representation of an album and I like to support certain artists. In fact, I literally just received three albums in the mail from Amazon not more than an hour ago. That's some sweet coincidence right there.
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BUT, that doesn't mean I don't absolutely ABUSE Spotify, buy from the iTunes store every so often/have a 50 GB iTunes library and even rip dope EDM tracks from YouTube. One thing I am confident in is that listening and acquiring music is a personal experience and you should do what you feel.
So, next time you go to buy that sweet song you heard on the radio from iTunes, I'd urge you to just remember how, long ago, our parents had to leave their houses to buy music! Consider downloading not just the single but the whole album, or even ordering the physical copy if you like the artist that much. Remember the incredible technological revolution that Apple ushered in. Marvel at its power and influence. Never take it for granted. Lastly, always remember the past...that s*** is important.
Let's try to put into perspective: since it's launch, the iPod has accounted for almost 90% of hard-drive based audio players on the market (Wikipedia). That means that for just about every ten people that owns an mp3 player, NINE of them have iPods. That's pretty significant. There are countless other stats to back up the absolutely massive popularity of Apple products in today's society. Just walk into any mall and count the number of people who DON'T have iPhones. Bet it's like... six, maybe seven. However, no stat, real or fabricated, is more impressive than the one at the beginning of this post.
"From 2001-2009, US album sales dropped 54.6%."
Why is this the most impressive stat, you may ask? Well, it's fairly simple and using the power of words, I will now relate it to my spiel on technology.
The convenience of the iTunes Store and the iPod effectively made the audio album obsolete.
There it is. These days, most people just say, "Oh I like that song. I'm going to download it on iTunes." Or, more likely, they say "Oh I like that song. I'm going to rip it from YouTube." Same idea, it's just pretty common practice for people to not want to pay $1.29 (Great job, Apple. Screwed the pooch with the price jump) for a single. It still happens because the iTunes store definitely makes money, but the main idea is the fact that it's a single song people are buying rather than an entire album.
In simpler times, as my mom and dad have explained to me many times, when you heard a song on the radio that you liked, you had to go down to the record store, shell out the three bucks (it's like triple that now, damn inflation) for the LP that the song was on and you would listen to the whole album. Crazy concept, right?! For some of you this may seem like a no-brainer (me included), but for many, this is a completely foreign idea. Why listen to the whole album when you only like one song??! (DUHH ONE SONG DUHH!!)
Well, because maybe there's another song on that, oh I don't know, Maroon 5 album that you could potentially really dig but you'll never get to hear it because you can't get past Moves Like Jagger and its 34 plays in your iTunes. Listening to music can be a really rewarding experience if you're willing to listen to more than that one song you heard on the radio. Just a thought.
Another thing I'd like to bring up is that music streaming, with namely Spotify at the forefront, is an increasingly popular way of listening to music. It's a way to experience the full extent of your favorite artist's music without having to buy the full album. Seriously, this is kind of an unrelated tangent but if you haven't heard of/used Spotify I would highly suggest it. I have a friend who recently downloaded it and has rediscovered a love of all types of music. One thing she has pointed out to me numerous times is how, through playlists or albums that I've sent her or through just perusing artist pages, she's been able to put names to songs that she knew but didn't really know, ya know?
Something important to remember when speaking on music listening is to each his own. While it's evident that because there is a more revolutionary, more convenient technology befitting the music-listening world now in the iPod, that doesn't mean you have to be subject to the norm. I, for one, still buy CD's off Amazon from time-to-time. Why do I do it? I guess I'm just a sentimental guy and there's something very real to me about a physical representation of an album and I like to support certain artists. In fact, I literally just received three albums in the mail from Amazon not more than an hour ago. That's some sweet coincidence right there.
.JPG)
A modest collection
BUT, that doesn't mean I don't absolutely ABUSE Spotify, buy from the iTunes store every so often/have a 50 GB iTunes library and even rip dope EDM tracks from YouTube. One thing I am confident in is that listening and acquiring music is a personal experience and you should do what you feel.
So, next time you go to buy that sweet song you heard on the radio from iTunes, I'd urge you to just remember how, long ago, our parents had to leave their houses to buy music! Consider downloading not just the single but the whole album, or even ordering the physical copy if you like the artist that much. Remember the incredible technological revolution that Apple ushered in. Marvel at its power and influence. Never take it for granted. Lastly, always remember the past...that s*** is important.
From the perspective of someone who listens to a lot of jam music, I can honestly say I will sometimes buy whole albums either on iTunes, record and tape traders, or at Best Buy simply because many "jams" are over 10 minutes long and once a track on iTunes reaches 10 minutes, you can only purchase the song with the album. One thing leads to another and I am discovering new music on my ride to school because I have Grateful Dead on shuffle.
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