In November's "Aural Robert" (p.154 in the print mag), music editor Robert Baird sees technological advancement as the major cause for the decline of the independent record store. He writes:
Then, he quotes me!
2. I'm not a good example Concerning 1., there just aren't that many people here. Of the few people that are here, there are only three of us under 40. Of those three, I think I was the only one Robert asked. Alright, I may be wrong about that last point, but still. What I'm saying is that Robert's informal poll was actually even more informal than you might've thought. 261 Madison Avenue isn't like one of those hustling and bustling offices where the employees spend a considerable amount of time each day sharing music files and trading iPods. This isn't Fader, this isn't Vice, this isn't even Rolling Stone. And, I'm glad about that, actually. Because, concerning 2., I wouldn't want to work in one of those offices. Despite the commonly held belief that my first name is "Young," something about me is actually very old. I don't like too much fun. Hipness creeps me out.
Strange: I'm looking forward to 30.
Stranger: I've been looking forward to 30 for about ten years. While I have downloaded music and I do have a small digital music library (about 25 albums), I have never purchased a single song from iTunes or any other service out there, and I don't even own an iPod. Nonetheless, Robert makes a valid point: "CDs have a boo boo." But is that the whole story? A more interesting idea, I think, is the one I heard from Mikey Fremer and Ken Kessler at last year's "Ask the Editors" session during our Home Entertainment Show: Like the cassette and the 8-track before it, the Compact Disc has turned out to be an intermediate, replaceable, and forgettable format, a quick and simple spin of time between the LP and digital. I must then also shake my head at Robert when he calls the LP revival "eternal nonsense." He says, "It's only old folks over 40 who still buy rainbow discs in those annoying hinged cases." That's just not true, RB. While many of my friends are letting go of their CDs — gaining space in their apartments and losing space on their hard drives — they're also collecting more vinyl than ever before. Even I'm preparing myself for that plunge into the world of music servers. It'll give me a good reason to start collecting LPs. But what do I know? I really am a bad example.
Like the 45rpm single and the LP before it, the Compact Disc is giving way to downloading.He goes on to say, "An informal poll around the Stereophile office found that no one under 40 had even been in a record store lately, let alone bought a record."
"It's been so long," said assistant editor Stephen Mejias, "that I can't even remember the last time I bought a CD."Okay, this is true. But, before you begin to wonder if I've lost my mind, let me let you in on a couple of things: 1. Our office isn't a good example
2. I'm not a good example Concerning 1., there just aren't that many people here. Of the few people that are here, there are only three of us under 40. Of those three, I think I was the only one Robert asked. Alright, I may be wrong about that last point, but still. What I'm saying is that Robert's informal poll was actually even more informal than you might've thought. 261 Madison Avenue isn't like one of those hustling and bustling offices where the employees spend a considerable amount of time each day sharing music files and trading iPods. This isn't Fader, this isn't Vice, this isn't even Rolling Stone. And, I'm glad about that, actually. Because, concerning 2., I wouldn't want to work in one of those offices. Despite the commonly held belief that my first name is "Young," something about me is actually very old. I don't like too much fun. Hipness creeps me out.
Stranger: I've been looking forward to 30 for about ten years. While I have downloaded music and I do have a small digital music library (about 25 albums), I have never purchased a single song from iTunes or any other service out there, and I don't even own an iPod. Nonetheless, Robert makes a valid point: "CDs have a boo boo." But is that the whole story? A more interesting idea, I think, is the one I heard from Mikey Fremer and Ken Kessler at last year's "Ask the Editors" session during our Home Entertainment Show: Like the cassette and the 8-track before it, the Compact Disc has turned out to be an intermediate, replaceable, and forgettable format, a quick and simple spin of time between the LP and digital. I must then also shake my head at Robert when he calls the LP revival "eternal nonsense." He says, "It's only old folks over 40 who still buy rainbow discs in those annoying hinged cases." That's just not true, RB. While many of my friends are letting go of their CDs — gaining space in their apartments and losing space on their hard drives — they're also collecting more vinyl than ever before. Even I'm preparing myself for that plunge into the world of music servers. It'll give me a good reason to start collecting LPs. But what do I know? I really am a bad example.
