I like CDs.
Scratch that.
I like buying music. I like to go to a store, look around, and pick up something tangible. I want to hold something in my hand. I like looking at the cover art, reading the liner notes and seeing the band pictures.
There are a lot of bands out there that like to take advantage of this fact, and go all out with special packaging. Just take a look at Tool’s 10,000 Days. The album art is all 3-D work, and the set even has built-in stereoscopic glasses for viewing, having earned the band a Grammy for best recording package.
Coming soon is Mudvayne’s latest offering, and all the artwork is done in black-light-reactant ink (by tattoo legend Paul Booth, no less!). Special editions of the album will come with a little black light, too.
What I’ve never really been into, is downloading and burning albums. Sure, I have a couple, but it’s all stuff I couldn’t legitimately buy (the independent debut releases of Slipknot and Evanescence, for example; the former which I finally tracked down). Or it’s something someone gave me to check out (and, in those cases, nine times out of ten, I eventually go and pick the album up when it’s something I like).
I know downloading, for most folks, is a way of life now. There’s a shelf in Target, now, right with all the CDs, full of iTunes cards to purchase full albums for download.
I’m still not interested.
However, I have finally bitten the bullet, so to speak, and picked up an iPod. I had my reasons, the least of which was a recent move which inevitably involved my expansive CD collection. In my new (temporary) location, I really don’t have the space to unpack all of the discs and display them (for lack of a better term), and I can’t see that changing any time soon. Instead, I think I’d prefer to hold on to the albums, but keep them all packed away for space and practicality purposes.
Anyway, I’m roughly 300 albums deep into a 900-plus library, digitizing my albums whenever I get a chance. And I’m enjoying the process immensely, not only for the ultimate convenience I’ll eventually enjoy of having each album available at my fingertips, but for the (however) brief amount of time I get to spend once more with each album. Being reminded of tracks, checking out the artwork once more… It’s not quite a trip down memory lane, but it’s close.
It’s also a good tool in culling down a collection that has expanded a little further than is manageable. Space on the computer and iPod is at a premium, so if I haven’t really listened to “Album X” in a couple of years, maybe it’s time to pull it out of rotation… permanently.
In the end, I realize I have no burning desire to rip these discs and get rid of them. I still want the tangible product. I might just be enjoying the music in a different medium. And that’s something record labels should remember as the business continues shifting into a new age…
