Downloading

Dean wrote: (make that 17 )     ...and everyone's still alive.      Excellent debate people - well done to all

Now that's weird, I'm using Firefox and it says 16.  We could always start an argument about it.
Oh wait, 17 with this post, you weren't anticipating that were you?


Edited by Slartibartfast - February 19 2009 at 15:36

^ Nah - I can see all the hidden posts and you can't, so I have more pages.

Rocktopus wrote: ^Vibrationbaby always complains about how it is now, and talks about how it used to be. You know, like going to vinylstores to learn about music. Its not the young people growing up now's fault those stores hardly exists.

^^ He's got about a 2 years on me and 5 on you.  I used to love going into the stores to search out music.  After I hit 40 or so it started to lose its charm (along with going to bars to see bands play).  I live in a college town and there are still a couple of "old-fashioned" brick and morttar stores here, but I found I have less and less in common with the folks who worked in the shops, and since that time I've pretty much used the internet.  I haven't been in a record store in almost 5 years.  Trying to get good recommendations from some acne-infested Screamo Metalhead fan is not an effective way to "enjoy the hunt."  God help the "Hot Topic" generation. 

Edited by Trademark - February 20 2009 at 11:22

Back in the late 70's there was a store (actually a small chain of 4 or 5) in West Michigan, where I lived that rented LP's for $1.00 /week (If I remember correctly).  If you liked it you could pay it off and keep it or keep renewing until you owned it.  If not you could just take it back and they put it into a "rental only" bin for 6-8 months and then moved it to the used section.  That's where I finally had the nerve to try out bands like Grobschnitt and Eloy.  

They only did it for about a year as it was.  I don't think it worked out too well in the long run.  I loved it though.

^ ITT: people not turning off their last.fm plugins.

You know, VB, the thing is the thrill is still there. I am sure that even living in the biggest city in the world with the most extensive variety of music to be found in a large amount of retail outlets can compare to the wealth that the internet provides.
Oasis, back then, Frank's music, Spin-It, Passage, all had a big selection of used and new vinyl. And it was not restricted to the top 40 of the day. Indeed, Frank's music, being a Sam the Record Man franchise had a very deep stock of back catalogue, and import releases.
But even the lot of them together do not even closely match what I have managed to read about, listen to (mp 3 samples, My Space, You Tube, and band sites), and acquire over the past 10 years.
I don't need record store guy to like a band so as to be introduced to them, I don't need X music magazine to tell me or sell me on the next big thing, nor the radio to show me what's hot now. Ads campaigns & Hype don't move me.
What does ? Sites like this. Bands pages. Wikipedia pages. Local music fans, and indie media. And all this added to Frank's Music, Spin-It and other retail outlets that are still here.

We are at a point that if a music fanatic was to be able to access everything that interested them, they would not have enough time to listen to it all. Therefore, you can say that the availability is infinite.
So you don't reasure that crappy LP that you saved up 2 weeks allowance to complete your group X collection, only to find out that it sucks. Even if you come to find it O.K. after a thousand listens, 'cause ... well ... you can only buy so many LPs.
Now - if ain't good, if it ain't worth more time, it's out of here. And why not ? 'Cause there's more than enough good & great music out there. Some will take some time to get into. But even today, even 40 years ago, there was some music that NEVER got better the more you listened to it.
I remember reading a Creem issue dedicated to the Rolling Stones. The writer was a big fan from the early days. He said how when he bought "Black & Blue" , that he listened to it a hundred times. And kept on listening to it until he finally thought, this is a good album. Then never played it again. Can you imagine all the music that he missed out on simply because he could not let a mediocre album be ?

I think if I was Pure Reason Revolution and I found out my crucial 2nd album was being bandies around the internet for free I'd probably pack it all in.

I wonder if bands setting up a paypal option on their sites would generate any decent revenue. Is it possible some guilty P2Pers might pony up some cash to the groups they've discovered and come to love ?