Jack White on download culture

More pathetic whining. Some artists really need to shut up and just focus on their music. Hate downloading? Try writing an interesting song about it.

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I'm not telling people not to listen to MP3s, we sell them for all of our records and I wouldn't say to them don't share with their friends or whatever, but if you're asking me my opinion on what I prefer, or what I think is the best way to enjoy music, I would take a tangible, moving piece of machinery to listen to, as it expands the imagination. The physical attachment and the experience is more reverential to the art form.

Good for vinyl fans to hear.

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Originally posted by Naijeru:
More pathetic whining. Some artists really need to shut up and just focus on their music. Hate downloading? Try writing an interesting song about it.

Good to see people can still have an opinion?
It seems the most sensible comments I have seen about this download (see under "stealing" culture.
I'm glad some one in the music industry has a positive attitude, may be the music might even get better?

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Originally posted by Naijeru:
More pathetic whining. Some artists really need to shut up and just focus on their music. Hate downloading? Try writing an interesting song about it.

I have to say that is a very odd analysis of his comments. He seemed very fair, reasonable and rational to me and I couldn't detect any sign of whining at all. As for artists not having any opinions I think it's rather sad that mostly this has become the norm these days.

Steeve

Kind of reminds me about this:

Every major record company has vaults full of (and perpetual rights to) great recording by major artists in many categories which might still provide enjoyment to music consumers if they were made available in the right way. MUSIC CONSUMERS LIKE TO CONSUME MUSIC . . . NOT PIECES OF VINYL WRAPPED IN PIECES OF CARDBOARD.

We propose to acquire the rights to digitally duplicate and store THE BEST of every record company's difficult-to-move Quality Catalog Items [Q.C.I.], store them in a central processing location, and have them accessible by phone or cable TV, directly patchable into the user's home taping appliances, with the option of direct digital-to-digital transfer to F-1 (SONY consumer level digital tape encoder), Beta Hi-Fi, or ordinary analog cassette (requiring the installation of a rentable D-A converter in the phone itself . . . the main chip is about $12). All accounting for royalty payments, billing to the customer, etc. would be automatic, built into the initial software for the system.

- Frank Zappa 1983

Note the year!

If you want to read the rest google for "A PROPOSAL FOR A SYSTEM TO REPLACE ORDINARY RECORD MERCHANDISING"
Apologies if you have seen this before but this man must have been some flavour of genius, no? This was on or before the release of the first CD player.

zappa's the digital download daddy

I am at loss to see how buying music on-line, and downloading a file to a computer, iPod, or whatever, can in any way diminish the content of the file.

It may actually lead to a greater sense of its worth or possibly a quicker realisation of lack of worth if there is no distracting art-work, or enjoyment of the non-musical aspects such as the tactile sense of vinyl, or the social interaction of visiting a record shop, whether to buy vinyl or CDs.

If all there is to save a music file from seeming totally insignificant is the musical content itself, then just possibly the music contained will rise in quality if the whole pop music industry is to carry on in any great scale.

I certainly don't find Bach or Haydn diminished because they play from a computer hard drive and are ordered online [albeit still as CDs because MP3 is disconcertingly less fine than WAV], but then loaded to the PC hard drive and played back at the touch of a key-pad and click of a mouse.

The absense of anything except the music is entirely to be welcomed in my view, and this will be a real test of modern pop music to respond to, as it better start to get more interesting or it will wither on the vine.

ATB from George

George, I couldn’t agree more, since going digital/HDD myself I have re-discovered and found much more enjoyment in my music. Then there’s the fact I can access so much so quickly - it’s a revelation

I think what he means, or at least how i take it is, downloading music allows for easier access to more shitty music than ever!

People with taste, musicians, aesthetes, intellectuals, snobs, students, aficionados etc.... will always listen to "good" music regardless of how they come to get it.

-p

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Originally posted by Steeve:

quote:

Originally posted by Naijeru:
More pathetic whining. Some artists really need to shut up and just focus on their music. Hate downloading? Try writing an interesting song about it.

I have to say that is a very odd analysis of his comments. He seemed very fair, reasonable and rational to me and I couldn't detect any sign of whining at all. As for artists not having any opinions I think it's rather sad that mostly this has become the norm these days.

Steeve

I agree Steeve - I thought Jack made some very valuable points in a very rationale manner.

quote:

Originally posted by Steeve:
I have to say that is a very odd analysis of his comments. He seemed very fair, reasonable and rational to me and I couldn't detect any sign of whining at all. As for artists not having any opinions I think it's rather sad that mostly this has become the norm these days.

Steeve

Saying that music has no "romance" unless listened to on an LP sounds like and old guy talking about walking five miles uphill barefoot in the snow to me. And what does waiting months for an eagerly sought after record have to do with the enjoyment of that record? The wait is forgotten the moment the record is in hand and the record forgotten if it turns out to be crap. I was very frustrated to have to wait for albums only to find that the record was sold out or worse, not even stocked on its release date.

I see no correlation between the quality of music or the joy of its experience and the media it is stored on. I look with scorn on comments that prescribe "THE ONE TRUE WAY" to listen to music no matter who they come from.

Unless artists themselves show a desire to maintain a medium we will lose a choice. Fortunate for all of us they own vinyl set up that the Jack Whites speaks up.

if you read between the lines he talking about money and the lack of it heading his way. thats why hes creating his own downloading site. lets see if he sells lossless or MP3. this will show if he cares about how his music sounds or if his pockets are empty..

I see his point, quite apart from the fact that A good record player can sound pretty special, the process of unwrapping and putting record on a turntable heightens expectation and arguably the experience. Que analogies of the inappropriate variety of ladies and underwear

Modern consumer culture does degrade the appreaciation of food through to art. That is self evident IMHO.

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Originally posted by JB76:
I see his point, quite apart from the fact that A good record player can sound pretty special, the process of unwrapping and putting record on a turntable heightens expectation and arguably the experience. Que analogies of the inappropriate variety of ladies and underwear
[

In the style of Swiss Toni

Playing a vinyl record is.......very much like making love to a beautiful woman.

First, you have to slide her out of her wrappings...
Lay her on the table, right side up!
Insert your needle
Play for 20 minutes and finish
Turn her over and do it again

Let's see....a painting is purchased. A piece
of sculpture, a book, a bottle of wine. How many references to physical art do we need to make a simple point? It is the tangible, the act of looking at an album cover in a store with other humans around to possibly chat with,
read the cover while browsing through other unknown gems, etc. That is the esscence of the romance that he is refering to I believe. Not just the act of using it but the focus needed to approach the art in the first place. I agree with him on many of the points he brings up and it has to do with more than downloaded music. It's a culture born out of isolation and
a detached view of others in both art and lliterature. Read the artical again. This man is not whining, he's contemplating.