DEATH OF THE ALBUM part 2

You know, I think we shouldn’t let youths in record stores. This might seem harsh, but let me tell you why the thought crossed my mind. See, the other day, I was in one of those record shops. The kind that’s moderately well stocked, where you might be able go back a few releases for this or that artist that you’ve recently discovered, if you’re lucky. And if you’re not lucky, you don’t fare much better than with the big box stores, except that the range of artists and musical genres is wider. Only the latest release of most of these acts, but a much greater variety. You know the kind of store I’m talking about.

Anyway, I was looking at some kids going through these records, and I was thinking that this is like torture for these kids. See, they get theoretical access to this wide variety of musicians and genres; but in fact the money involved is prohibitive. If you’re interested in going back for any specific artist, you’ll easily have to spend 25 canadian dollars (tax included) for one record. And if you know your records like I do, you quickly realize that it can get way more expensive than that. Collector’s editions, bonus disc releases, concert dvd included, the offers are wide and tempting.

These kids, they certainly do have money, but they’re not full economic partners of our consumer society. Nor do we expect them to be: we expect them to be getting their necessary training to eventually embark on our consumer train. So they have limited revenue and can only spend a certain amount on certain spheres of their lives. Some passionate kids will blow all their money on comics or records, but for most, it’s a matter a balancing diverging needs to make the total fit the content of their wallets.

Their passions however are much wilder. They might know the value of the contents in their pockets, but they also know the value of identifying with a specific artist or genre, how empowering that is for their psyche. And since this process is very important to them, they can’t just let their wallet guide their devellopment. So they’ll share or download whatever they can, to get a fuller grasp of an artist or genre.

As it so happens, we have deemed that action to be illegal. And we have given to the record companies the permission to be the safeguards of society against that evil. They are entitled to enforce pursuit, and enforce it they do any chance they get. So in fact, when we let youths browse through an artist’s catalogue, we actually give them ideas on crimes to commit, since most of this catalogue will end up being downloaded and not purchased.

Which brings me back to my original proposition. Ban youths from record stores. It’s for their own good.
____

Meanwhile, it appears albums aren’t dead after all. Radiohead have promised to go back in the studio to make a new one. If even Radiohead doesn’t dare to kill the album,who will? So I guess it’s here to stay. Unless we make albums illegal? To protect kids, you know?

Read more...