Music Customers Want More Choices, Not Fewer
The Associated Press can shampoo my crotch.
I read this article on CNN and I could barely contain my contempt, scorn, and disdain. Yeah, I know — three words that all mean the same thing — but I was pissed and I’m going for emphasis.
The story makes the case that the majority of American music listeners are ready to toss their CDs and stereo systems out the door in order to fully embrace the digital age. They talk to a handful of consumers, the dreaded “man on the street†approach, and cite a few statistics to make their case.
The Associated Press doesn’t get it any more than the music industry does! The issue is choice!
I have owned five iPods and dedicate a recurring column on this web site to the songs I listen to on my iPod. Right now, as I write this, I am listening to music through iTunes on my MacBook Pro because our apartment layout makes it the better the option. I love digital music. I love the portability of it. I took 14,760 songs with me to work today. At this exact moment, with an hour remaining, I have listened to 90 different songs. That doesn’t take in to account the number of songs I listened to twice. Believe me, I understand the appeal.
I also love the idea of experiencing an album in its full-sonic glory. Music is sounds, and compressing and eliminating sound from the songs is not the ideal way to experience the art of music. There is a place for both, it doesn’t have to be either/or, zero-sum.
Beyond the stodgy, wannabe audiophile in me, consider this: 90% of you digital weenies are using Windows! Gee, don’t suppose you’ve ever had your system crash only to find you hadn’t backed everything up? How pissed off are you going to be when you haven’t backed up your music and you lose it all? Backing it up means relying on physical media. I realize you can get hundreds of songs on CD or DVD in the lossy formats, but we still have a long way to go if eliminating physical media is the objective.
Unfortunately, the record labels are doing everything they can to kill the CD while at the same time bemoaning its impending doom. Damn, what a bunch of dickless nitwits these people are! Sales are plummeting, and they respond by raising prices in some instances and not cutting prices in others. They can’t get people to buy fucking CDs, so they add bonus content and charge more. Guys, if it’s about value, you should be offering more for the same or less money, not more for more money. I’m not even allowed to unbalance our checkbook around here and I can see that this doesn’t add up. They have made the CD a terrible value and they wonder why (other) people aren’t buying them.
At least while they’re fucking up the physical formats, they are moving full-throttle in creating an ideal digital experience- or perhaps not. People have criticized Apple’s iTunes Music Store, but it is by far the best digital experience on the scene right now. Granted that’s like being the most civilized monkey in the zoo, but you have to start somewhere.
The issue of choice, in the form of restrictions the different online services place on their customers, is one of the real downsides to the digital music experience. This same lesson can be applied to the big picture when it comes to audiophiles who love the sounds of lossless, physical media and the fans of the portable, digital music. Give your customers a wide range of viable options rather than limiting choice and micromanaging usage. Educate them about the respective advantages and disadvantages of their choices, don’t sue, threaten, and harass them.
The record companies are not going to do this voluntarily. They’re going to be dragged into kicking and screaming. Unfortunately, we cannot count on our mainstream media outlets to carry our message because they’re owned by the same dickless nitwits that run the recording industry. It’s going to take us voting with our wallets and raising our voices here in cyberspace. We may not prevail, but I don’t intend to go down with rounds still in the proverbial chamber.
Filed under: Fanboy Manifesto
just what i needed this morning. had i read it earlier, i might as well have skipped my coffee. grrrr!!!!!
If I didn’t care about what they sell, I’d find the self-inflicted troubles of the music industry beyond hilarious.
Similarly, if job the news media are supposed to do wasn’t so important, watching public faith in them eroding would be funnier.
Wow…a very “Grrrr” piece.
S.Rod, I was beginning to think you were hiding on account of the quid pro quo and Guster talk. It’s good to have you back around these parts.
I did find my blood pressure rising as I read the source story because, as I laid out above, it is wrong on so many levels. I had to stop myself because there were a number of other choice-related examples I could have easily incorporated.
I’m not hiding…just working. Tax time is very busy for us. I’m still up for a little quid pro quo. How many weeks are left until this event takes place? Hehee.
I could read passion and the restraint. Personally I hate downloading music from the Internet. I do it but I love my CD’s and would never get rid of them. And I still prefer to buy an actual CD. I like having the backup and it sounds much better.
I love it when you talk taxes, S.Rod.
The blessed event is in June. Still plenty of time to work out an arrangement. Heh.
99.5% of my iPod songs came from my CD collection. I’ve bought very few from iTunes because I just love having the CD. I totally agree with you on that. That isn’t to say I don’t love my iPod or don’t understand the iTunes appeal, it’s just not for me.
The blessed event is in June. Still plenty of time to work out an arrangement. Heh.
you all send me the pics and i will write it up. i swear ta gawd, i will do justice to you both.
Check your mailbox, Saleski, I’m sure we’ll take you up on that.
Josh, I didn’t realize that you enjoyed taxes so much….
Yes, we should start negotiations, what would you like? A pic of me without makeup? Poor clothing choices? Bad hair? I could probably find something? We are moving in a month…so now is the time to make requests.
Sir Saleski…I think I would like to read anything that you would write about both pictures…I’m sure it would be entertaining. I’m game.
But back to the discussion:
Most of my iPod songs are from my CD collection as well. I have taken a lot from Mark’s computer. Saves me the time of ripping my CD’s. But he downloads a lot from iTunes. Even though he has a mac I am constantly reminding him to back up his files. I see wasted $$ in replacing lost music.
Of course you’d like to read anything Saleski would write about the pictures… he cues angelic choirs at the mere mention of your name. I don’t always come out as well.
So the “Denis Leary-Cindy Crawford naked on top of the Empire State Building eating Eskimo Pies” spread is out of the question [I kid, I kid!!]?
I’ll have to spend time considering what would be an equitable exchange that won’t get either of us divorced, arrested, deported, excommunicated, or killed. Then, I’ll have to decide if I can go through with it all the same.
A wife, giving constant reminders… I’ve never heard of such a thing.
Oh, and I don’t really enjoy taxes… just when you talk about them.
OK, I have to stop. I’m going to get tuned up if I don’t behave myself.
Back on topic…
I sometimes shudder at the thought of having to re-rip all 14k plus songs if my Mac were to go belly up and I have the freakin’ CDs. ::shudder:: See? I just shuddered again.
Well, in addition to my finance skills I’m also the resident techie. I’m all about the backups.
~With regards to our negotiations…would you rather we didn’t post it on the net? A simple email exchange with the promise of not forwarding it to another party would suffice for me. Although, I do think it would be in good fun to have it up. I might change my mind once you pick something…
Yep. It is certainly about choice.
But the article is partly right - if you’re over 25 or driving in a car, etc. you physically can not tell the difference between hi-fi and lo-fi because either you ears are shot or the ambient noise obviates the value of hi-fi. So, yes, lo-fi *is* as good as hi-fi for you. This is why choice starts to out-weight fidelity - hi-fi is a “don’t care”, not even a plus or minus.
The bigger missing point is that *no one* makes any purchase or use decisions based on a single axis - it’s a multi-variable system.
Anytime you optimize one variable at a time in a multi-variable system you eventually start de-optimizing other variables which makes the overall desirability lower despite apparently improving features. This is why SACD and DVD-Audio are still Dead-on-Arrival after 10+ years on the market!
MP3 optimizes on flexible and choice *and* most people probably can’t tell the difference in fidelity already so the market result become obvious - opt for what improves usability and re-use.
Embracing lo-hi is simply a normal market correction to bad RIAA product marketing and design decisions. Interestingly, the entire response by the RIAA to mp3 and affiliated technologies and uses is a textbook example disruptive-vs-established technologies. The RIAA has literally made nearly every mistake a typical established player makes with a disruptive technology.
he cues angelic choirs at the mere mention of your name. I don’t always come out as well.
oh sure ya do josh, it’s just that the angels are all smokin’ stogies.
I’m not sure what all the fuss is about this picture trading— a tuxedo makes any man look better, even a curvaceous Fanboy.
Funny how the “resident techie” in the household isn’t the one who owns the backup drive. Hmmm.
yea, because you bought the wrong external hard drive…
It’s not wrong if I bought it to back up all of my Macs, which it does a fine job of.
It’s time for you to switch over to the dark side, PC-Girl.
Yes, but you were supposed to buy a backup that was compatible with both mac & pc, remember? When my pc dies you know I’m going Mac.
Curvaceous? You’re a smooth talker, Sahm. Hey, S.Rod, I think Sahm just made a pass at me right in front of you!
As for better… what, like it’s going to make me look worse? 
I’m going to pop some popcorn and watch Sahm and S.Rod have one of those “married folk” discussions. It’s a good thing TWTWIM doesn’t like to participate around here.
Personally, I won’t buy a CD unless it’s on sale for $9.99 or less. Maybe that makes me cheap, but I prefer the physical CD instead of downloadable music. I like to look at the CD cover, read the liner notes and - hopefully - follow along with the words. I also prefer to read an actual magazine and newspaper instead of reading my news online. It could be said that I suffer from Good Ole Days Syndrome. Actually, I just enjoy the relaxation of reading Sports Illustrated cover to cover and the ritual of reading my newspaper every day.
I also enjoy the process of buying the CD. Going to the music store and browsing the aisles, picking up a CD that has an eye catching cover, reading the song list, trying to figure out by whatever vague clues the album artwork will give whether or not I’d like the music. It would be nice if the music industry, like the publishing and movie industry, would include descriptions of the group, album and music style. That would make the process an even bigger, more wonderful time waster. It might also increase their sales by enticing people to buy something they might not have without the information.