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zip file inundation: dealing with music in the digital domain...
RE: zip file inundation: dealing with music in the digital domain...
by jason - Sat Oct 16, 2010 4:24pm
macedonia said:
i still have records from last year's FMU record fair that i'm going through because the digital onslaught shows no signs of stopping.
I just experienced this, realized going thru records to sell at the wfmu record fair on the 24th...
I know what you mean about the detachment to zip files. For me a lot of it has to do with the context of how the music is first encountered. We get so much music sent to us for the FMA, that when it's just a rapidshare page with vaguely pornographic ads making you wait and get frustrated, it's not a great impression.
I was talking with Custodian of Records and Deal the Villain about this during WFMU's Coffeebreak for Heroes and Villains one night a month or so ago. They're both hip-hop producers and so get tons of music sent to them via email, and basically they said that unless it's somebody they already know and trust, they're not going to bother waiting for that rapidshare. I think this demonstrates how, despite the potential of the web as a window into the world, "zip file inundation" leads us to cling to the stuff we already know we like / the resources we already know provide good sounds, so the web has this danger of becoming more of a mirror than a window. This is particularly dangerous with news and information and opinions that some of us won't see because we shape our web consumption around views we already support. I guess the world has always been that way, and the web can only do so much to change it -- it's not the utopian Global Village that CISCO would like us to believe.
But anyway back to the Coffeebreak radio show, Custodian of Records and Deal the VIllain looked over at Coffeebreak's host/producer Noah spinning records and I thought about all the careful work he does putting a show together, picking out the raddest sounds. Found this video to help demonstrate the work that goes into curation, and it's something you can hear behind every track he plays, you know that Noah's put some deep thought into it and that adds value to the music -- transmitted digitally over the webradio or FM or podcast or whatever -- it adds value in a way that a zip file doesn't necessarily.
So I guess what I'm saying is curation is how I deal with it, getting tips from trusted sources, with a little bit of free exploration in the mix as well, scouting out new undiscovered sounds.
zip file inundation: dealing with music in the digital domain...
by macedonia - Sat Oct 16, 2010 1:11pm
when Giant Step started sending out their dj promos as zip files two years ago, that's when i first had to acknowledge the change on the horizon. as a podcaster and one that reviews music, i am constantly getting new material sent my way - either a song to post for blog use, a zip file for album review, or something to include in my show. i have never seen the floodgates open as much as they have in 2010. between labels sending me stuff and what i come across on my own in the Creative Commons realm and otherwise, there is no catching up. for every EP or album that i know, there are at least 20 others that i don't know.
granted, i'm never at a loss for new music to play on my show, but it's hard not to feel overwhelmed after a while. i finally got a new MP3 player after about a month and a half of not having one due to the battery finally dying on the old one. listening to music on the go is a must just to get through some of what's being sent. and i'm the type of person who gets upset when i can't find the time to just sit down and listen to a vinyl record. i still have records from last year's FMU record fair that i'm going through because the digital onslaught shows no signs of stopping.
i have a good friend of mine who's a former music director for WCDB ALBANY and a current record dealer (he's gearing up for this year's record fair). he's not sure what he would do if he were in my situation. while he thinks he would be grateful for not having so much physical product to go through, as far as he's concerned, zip files aren't "real" to him. meanwhile, zip files are very real to me, but i can feel the jaded side of me taking over in reaction to the rising tide crashing into my inbox at a gigabyte per day.
lately i've been experiencing an emotional detachment to zip files as opposed to music in some physical form and i've been wondering if anyone else feels the same way. i don't take Prince's stance on the Internet being "over" and i certainly don't echo T-Bone Burnett's sentiments on MP3s not being worth anything. still, i can't help feeling like an analog codger in a digital world. how do you deal with the MP3 overload when so much is fighting for your attention and are you still as excited about music now as you were when the digital domain's foothold wasn't as large?
just wondering...