Last week our US sister-blog wondered whether vinyl was making a comeback. It got us thinking…
From a UK perspective, the format never went anywhere: the only question is “why?” Well, perhaps it’s because DJ-based dance music is much deeper rooted in European youth culture. The big chain stores here stock 12”s: unlike the majority of the shops in the US.
But rather than arguing over whether vinyl will die or not, in 2008 the record industry is asking itself bigger questions. With Radiohead offering their fans a chance to choose how much to pay for their album (including the option to pay nothing at all) and Haduken releasing music as USB stick-only, the large queries are: will fans pay for music anymore? and what formats do our audience want?
With digital making generating revenue from music sales ever harder, the big labels are increasingly looking to other ways to generate profit. Acts like Madonna and Jay-Z have suggested the focus in the future will be in touring: an experience that can’t be digitized… for the foreseeable future.
Answers is a place that hopes to give people, well, answers but as the music-consumption landscape changes, we find ourselves left with far more questions. Time to stick on the headphones and have a ponder…
Five popular music questions on Answers:
– Keane
– Pete Tong
– Ciara
– Emma Bunton
– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers Front Page Team
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I think the day of the microchip spelt the end of “records”,but not of recording, in fact probably just the opposit.When in the 1960s you wanted to make a recording in the UK it was costly and time consuming to hawk it around countless agents and record companys. If you were in you were in , if not forget it.Nowadays anyone can afford to record and publish on the net.The only real differenc is the £12 piece of plastic which cost nothing to produce.not many bands made money in th 60s so why expect to today