SAVE THE ALBUM

I copied this post from my weekly OffBeat newsletter from New Orleans because it speaks to the way I feel about music and the way I listen to music. Yes, I may be something of a relic these days in the land of downloads and shuffle plays, but to me it is the Album that defines an artist or group and its legacy, the medium that separates the "one hit wonders" from the serious artist, and the Album which speaks to me as a whole creating a complete concept or space for exploration of a theme and allowing for transformation of dimension. Radio is sometimes an acceptable alteration of this pattern, but when listening to radio, I usually listen to programs, or stations that have some thematic context for the programming. I listen to a lot of music in MP3 format, but I NEVER use shuffel mode preferring to maintain the music in its original context thus preserving the artistic space of the material.

What follows is the commentary from Offbeat and Insound as it apeared in the newsletter.

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We in New Orleans are acutely aware of changes in the music industry since we now have to go to bookstores in Jefferson Parish to buy new international albums. Part of Tower Records’ bankruptcy has been blamed on downloading, the phenomenon that threatens to change the nature of the music business. Insound.com, an online music retailer, is worried about the future of the album, alarmed by the tendency to download only favorite songs by an artist and not the album they were found on. To this end, Insound.com is selling albums on vinyl, CD and digitally, but the downloadable material will only be offered in the context it originally appeared—as a part of albums, for the most part. “While the sale of individual tracks certainly makes sense technologically for pop music, it is fully not in the best interest of the independent music community. It hurts not only artists, but also labels, retailers, and distributors,” says Matt Wishnow, President of Insound. “If I love [a band], I love them for [their albums] and not for particular songs on those albums. We want to continue to nourish fans who feel this way about the album.”

OffBeat Weekly Beat Newsletter, KEEPIN' NEW ORLEANS, WAY FUNKY!, October 26, 2006, Volume 4 No. 42



Save The Album!
Pet Sounds needs you! Slanted Enchanted needs you! Spiderland needs you! In the Aeroplane Over the Sea needs you! Insound is the general in this battle and we're enlisting your support. Starting now, Insound is selling albums digitally. That's right, album ONLY. The reason record labels curse printers and obsess over test pressings for. The reason drummers trade blood for studio time for. The Album. Insound