Record Store Day proves true value of buying records
I steal music. Most people reading this probably do too. I’m not saying it’s right, but I rarely feel guilty.
Much of my generation has fallen into the easy routine of downloading music for free. As a result, record release dates mean nothing, as albums leak weeks in advance.
Yet while the Recording Industry Association of America continues its impossible war against internet “pirates,” others are looking to save the recording industry in a more constructive manner.
Last month, Jack White of the White Stripes debuted his Third Man Rolling Record Store, a sort of food truck but with vinyl, at SXSW. And this Saturday is Record Store Day, a collaborative effort intended to promote independent record stores. Amoeba Music in Hollywood has already sold out tickets for a CD signing featuring Slash. Bands are issuing limited-edition releases for the day, and there will be numerous in-store performances as well.
I always dismissed vinyl supporters as either pretentious hipsters or people afraid to face the future. The arrogant dude rifling through Goodwill’s dusty record bins always irked me.
Then, slowly, I became that guy. My favorite albums are more than 10 years old, and most were released in the pre-iTunes era. I have CD copies of all of them.
This is how those who grew up with vinyl must feel. Music consumption has changed, seemingly for the better, but there’s always something special about the way things used to be done.
I grew up listening to CDs. But now the times they are a-changin’, and it’s fitting I learned that reference from an mp3 Bob Dylan album rather than the real thing.
CDs were much more effective at sustaining people’s interest in albums because they forced you to pay money for a tangible product. They forced you to actively seek out music and to listen to that music as much as possible to get your money’s worth, since you paid for an entire album, not just an iTunes track.
They forced you to read the lyrics sheet on the inside cover and learn all of the words.
The reason my favorite albums were all released in the CD heyday is because that format forced me to invest my time and money in one specific product.
But ever since Napster launched, I’ve been downloading music, and as technology further developed I began downloading complete albums. Those albums would sit on my computer for days, weeks or years at a time, unnoticed or forgotten. Even albums I purchased on iTunes would get lost somewhere in the depths of my digital storage.
To indulge my CD nostalgia and force myself to start truly enjoying music again, I recently bought a record player, albeit a cheap one, from Amazon that plugs into my computer speakers. I did it to force myself to actually appreciate the art of the LP album again.
As much as I used to hate record collectors for ignorantly resisting the benefits of digital music distribution, I understand them now. I’ve fallen in love with the drop of the needle, the static sound you sometimes hear, the fact that records need careful cleaning and storage.
I’m now the pretentious idiot digging through crates of records, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Anyone who thinks analog and digital music are mutually exclusive is entirely mistaken. In fact, most new vinyl LPs come with a code for an mp3 download of the album.
Even in the recording world, many albums are recorded and mixed first on an analog system, then tweaked on a digital program that offers almost limitless possibilities.
Just because I’m going to start spending more time in record stores doesn’t mean I will stop listening to music on my computer or iPod. Digging through crates of records to find a new artist or album is more fun, but digging through the Internet for new music is more effective.
I understand the reasons why people like Jack White and those behind Record Store Day list vinyl as their preferred method of buying music.
Records force you to invest in an album both monetarily and emotionally, and to listen to the album often, just like I used to do with CDs.
I’m still going to steal some music, but I’m going to put more effort into paying for, and enjoying it, too.
Will Hagle is a sophomore majoring in narrative studies. His column, “Feedback,” runs Wednesdays.
Will Hagle, for a clueless dweeb who relishes his freedom to steal music with impunity, thus disregarding the artists as well as the law, you certainly like to talk about being “forced” to do things. Hell, you managed to use “forced” or “force” seven times in this short, pathetic article, mostly to describe situations in which one may be *tempted* or *encouraged* to do something, but not “forced”. Perhaps you can also steal a thesaurus in order to expand your choice of words.
Music thieves are a contributing factor to the overwhelmingly crappy music scene: you certainly don’t place any value on music if you freely steal and distribute it. Who cares if artists have to expend time, money, and effort to produce a recording? To you, it’s “just music” and should be free for the taking. No wonder so much of the music dominating pop culture today is lame and uninspiring. Like Andy Partridge wrote in XTC’s “Funk Pop A Roll”: “Everything you eat is waste / but swallowing is easy when it’s got no taste.”
The old saying goes, “You get what you pay for,” but in your case, you don’t even pay for it.