From vinyl to sound bytes article

[Livia]

Article published Aug 24, 2008

From vinyl to sound bytes, music fans keep on rocking

When I went online last week to buy tickets for a Lindsey Buckingham show in October, the transaction demonstrated the extent to which music has become a commodity as well as art.

In his role as the male lead and sonic architect of Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham is an old-fashioned rock star. He can still make piles of cash anytime he can coax Stevie Nicks onto the road, or vice versa.

But as a solo artist, Buckingham is just another talented musician trying to get heard and get paid in the digital maze of today's music business. So my decision to buy four tickets to his concert in Cleveland was greased by the promise of two free copies of his upcoming CD and four free song downloads from iTunes.

My musical worldview was formed in days when getting my hands on songs that mattered to me required actually leaving my house. As a teenager, I'd save my money and go to the Record Bar to plunk it down for the latest album by the Doobie Brothers, Kansas or Led Zeppelin.

Playing tunes was a more tactile affair in the days of vinyl. You'd cue up a record and then turn those big album jackets over in your hands, looking at the cover art -- James Flournoy Holmes, anyone? -- or following along with the lyrics.
Albums gave way to compact discs in the mid-1980s, although vinyl still has its place among aficionados. But where things are going these days is apparent in the fact that Apple Computer's online download store earlier this year passed Wal-Mart as the biggest music retailer in the nation.

Sound mavens look down on the aural quality of downloaded music, along with Apple iPods and other devices that play compressed audio files. But my ears aren't that discriminating, so last year I caved to the ubiquity and convenience of the iPod.

That move came with the up-front commitment of weeks of spare time spent loading hundreds of CDs into iTunes, the software that powers iPods. The result is sort of mind-blowing, really.

That 23/4-by-4-inch box contains 13,422 songs at the moment -- available for play through the stereo or on the road; a song or album at a time or in endless combinations as a tiny jukebox. If I listened to music 24/7, it would take a little over 14 months to get through it all.

Even at 80 gigabytes, I'd need a bigger iPod if I reached all the way back to the days when I first fell in love with rock 'n' roll and started collecting music. That additional music comes in the form of hundreds of vinyl albums that once occupied a place of honor in our living quarters but are now relegated to a corner of the basement.
There's stuff down there I don't even remember until I browse through them now and then. They're a cumulative soundtrack of changing and broadening musical tastes that ends abruptly with my conversion to the CD circa 1985.

I can remember the first album I ever bought -- "The Chicago Transit Authority," the eponymous debut by the band that shortened its name to Chicago after the real transit authority took umbrage. And the first CD - "Strength," by the Alarm.

We could put all that vinyl back on the playlist by reversing our decision not to buy a turntable when we replaced our stereo several years ago. But we probably won't.

Besides, we already have the technology to run those albums through a computer and into the iPod anytime we want. What I don't have is the time or patience.

A while back I bought a time machine for old music. It's essentially a turntable that plugs into a computer and, while an album plays on it, converts the music into a digital format that can be burned to a CD and loaded into an iPod.
I've done that with a couple of obscure old favorites not available online or on CD. Hearing the hiss and random pops from worn vinyl evokes those pre-digital days as surely as the tunes themselves.

But it doesn't make me miss them, at least in terms of the mechanics of music. Converting all that vinyl would be far more tedious and time-consuming than loading CDs into iTunes, so I'll no doubt stick to resurrecting the occasional album that really calls to me through the years.

My wife and I have neither the time nor inclination to keep up with music as avidly as we once did. But it turns out that all these gizmos are combining to expose us to more new stuff than we've enjoyed in a long time.

Trish keeps a notebook in her purse to jot down the names of cool songs and bands she hears while listening to satellite radio in her car. Once a month or so on a Sunday, I'll download the objects of her scribbles.

Maybe today I'll use my free downloads from Lindsey Buckingham to check out what's new on her list. And when Buckingham's complimentary CD arrives in the mail, I'll feed it to my iPod and then add it to the stacks of others that have given up the goods.
Those CDs still occupy prime real estate in our family room. But they're destined, when I get around to it, to become the latest exhibit in our musical museum down the basement stairs.

Write to Managing Editor Pat Howard at 205 W. 12th St., Erie, PA 16534, or e-mail him at pat.howard@timesnews.com.

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...ON04/808240383

[michelej1]

I got the email for my free GOS CD last week. I was excited to fill out the form.

I was thrilled with the "music box" feature in my new car that lets you download music onto the car's own hard drive. You can hook up an ipod too, but it was neat that I could have the music in the car, even without an MP3 player. I can get bamboozled by gadgets like that, that have nothing to do with the car's road performance. Michele

[SandyMac]

Wow, it is a small world. This article is from an Erie, PA newspaper. My hometown. In fact, I have a Sister-in-Law that works in the accounting dept. there.

I can relate to what the reporter is talking about. I remember buying Tusk in the bargain bin at the Millcreek Mall and brought it home and enjoyed the whole double album package.

Thank you for posting this.

[Betsy]

Originally Posted by Livia

Article published Aug 24, 2008

From vinyl to sound bytes, music fans keep on rocking....


Playing tunes was a more tactile affair in the days of vinyl. You'd cue up a record and then turn those big album jackets over in your hands, looking at the cover art -- James Flournoy Holmes, anyone? -- or following along with the lyrics.
http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...ON04/808240383

That was such a joy --- holding the huge album cover -- reading the lyrics. I really miss that part, getting the photos, lyrics and the artwork.