Vinyl

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

 Catcher10 wrote:

Found the interview...here is the bit I was talking about.

Porcupine Tree records now sell in huge numbers, but it has taken two decades of hard work to win what Steven calls a slow war of attrition. What's impressive is that, despite being largely overlooked by the mainstream music press, the band are actually selling more records than ever before, even at a time when downloads are killing record sales. It seems that Steven's success is all about providing a superior experience through his music, product packaging and live shows. "The people who listen to my music know that I'm not going to release something just to be commercial or get on the radio. I release records that I believe in, and if you do that, people trust your motives are genuine, so even if they don't always like the music, they're still prepared to listen. Now that progressive rock is no longer a dirty word, we are starting to get more media coverage, but for years it was just people telling their friends. It was never planned or contrived.

"A lot of people are taking music as free downloads, but our following has gone up so much that it creates the illusion that we're not suffering. We're in an age where there isn't this perception that you should have to pay for recorded music, but it's a shame for several reasons. The main thing is that there is no commitment to quality of experience any more, and by that I mean that people are listening to MP3s without artwork. This is the history of the human race — convenience always wins over quality of experience.”

Fighting back, one of Steven's strategies has been to release a large number of limited‑edition products with special packaging, all of which are snapped up by fans. These include DVDs with visuals produced by his filmmaker friend Lasse Hoile, elaborately packaged, limited‑edition books and coloured heavy vinyl editions, as well as Digipak, Digibook and mini‑LP CD releases, all given a consistent visual style by designer Carl Glover. The perfect example of this approach is Steven's ambitious solo album project, Insurgentes, initially released in 2009 as a limited deluxe edition of 4000 10‑inch hardback books containing 120 pages of images and a choice of either four audio CD/DVDs, or four 10‑inch vinyl discs. The expensive packaging paid off, with all copies selling out in advance.

"If you give people something to treasure, they are more inclined to invest their money,” reasons Steven. "The thing about vinyl is that it has an aesthetic quality, like a piece of art, and that's what CD did away with. But vinyl is something really beautiful you can hold and cherish. It makes you feel like you own a piece of art, and good music is art so it should be presented as such. Having generic CDs in crystal cases with four‑page booklets stuffed inside is more like owning a piece of software, so we are seeing the death of generic cases and a return to music presented with beautifully elaborate, aesthetically pleasing artwork, with gatefold sleeves, cutouts and inserts. One of the first albums I bought was ELO's Out Of The Blue, which came with a spaceship you had to assemble. It was cheesy but fun. Record companies have been forced to look at those things to keep people buying physical products.”

Steven is unusual in that he takes responsibility for all the decisions regarding the packaging of his work, insisting that the label's input on such matters is zero. "Record companies are more open to ideas than they used to be, but the special packaging and books come from me, Lasse and Carl. Record companies think I'm crazy when I say 'Can I have this kind of paper?', because they've never had an artist do that, but they are realising that it is not just my silly little self‑indulgence: these are things that fans really care about, and that kind of attention to detail makes it easier to sell physical products.” 

Quality artful presentation is somewhat lacking in the cd universe, so when Wilson release a cd/DVD package he gives you more visuals, not quite to what vinyl can do but at least he gives you something more to look at. 

May I say again. The Jethro Tull boxset is just amazing and the liner notes are incredible. 80 page booklet. 

It is as he said. It's like you own a piece of art on a tangible level. 

Amazing stuff. He is a godsend. 