A new take on digital music
There hasn’t been much on this blog of late. That’s primarily because, in the topsy-turvy world of Upstart Blogger/Ashley Morgan, there hasn’t been much going on. Sure I could comment on the 4 different name changes his “record label” has gone through in the past year, or the numerous twists and turns of his Twitter username, but that’s hardly newsworthy. However, it finally seems as if he’s ready to resurface again.
Thankfully for most of us, he’s not coming back — or hasn’t yet, anyway — to the world of blogging about blogging. Instead, he’s been laying low and focusing on music. That’s fine and dandy. You might recall that, in the past, Mr. Morgan has been a strong advocate of digital music and filesharing, actively taking on the major labels’ attempts to shut down p2p music sharing and control over the industry. Two years ago (has it really been that long?) in September ’09 he got into a poo flinging contest with Lily Allen and her label (EMI) on Twitter and on his blog in reaction to a post on her MySpace page appealing to her fans against filesharing.
“File sharing’s not okay for British music,” she wrote. “We need to find new ways to help consumers access and buy music legally, but saying file sharing’s fine is not helping anyone – and definitely not helping British music.”
This spurred an almost 2,000 word rant about Lily Allen, how that post couldn’t possibly be written by her but rather she was a puppet for EMI who was trying to get her fans to stop pirating music, and about how the music industry in general was being idiotic if it thought it could really control music sharing. This attack ultimately lead to a cease and desist order from EMI to pull down the post and stop flaming the fire, which only gave him more fuel since it indicated that he was onto something. But I don’t care about that. I’m interested in revisiting his views on digital music at the time. To wit: “What EMI and Lily know and hate is that independent musicians depend on file sharing as one of the many ways of getting their music heard.” (italics mine)
Fast forward to now. Ashley has given up all his former main blogs, but he can’t help telling us what he’s up to, as I found when I discovered a couple new posts from my Ashley Morgan Universe Collection of RSS feeds. Ashley’s now moved primarily over to Posterous where he’s blogging on behalf of the new label E&R Records (don’t bother finding the E&R Records site, there’s nothing there). As I was reading the most recent entry, and then the entries of the past month or so, I was struck by the sudden 180 with regards to digital music. Namely, his most recent Q & A post:
“Where can I listen to your music?”
E & R Records distributes music through independent record shops all over the world. To listen to the music go to your local independent record shop and they will be happy to help.
“Where can I buy your music?”
E & R Records music is only available to purchase through independent record shops.
“Is your music available on iTunes?”
No.
“Is your music really only available on vinyl and cassette?”
Yes. Although some of our artists have expressed an interest in making their music available on Mini Disc, something that we shall look into in the near future.
…
“Do you offer free downloads?”
No. If you want our music then go to an independent record shop, order it and buy it. That’s what real music lovers do. If you want to freeload then there is plenty of music out there for you to choose from. But if you want our music you’re going to have to play by our rules.
“How can I buy music without having heard it first?”
You’ve obviously never been in a real independent record shop. Try it. Go into your local independent record shop and tell them that you’d like to listen to something new. Talk to them, get to know them, let them get to know you.
…
“What is your stance on file sharing, torrent sites and music piracy?”
They are all things that plague the digital music industry. We couldn’t care less about them, frankly.
To say that the music industry hasn’t changed in 2 years would be a flat out lie. I’ve changed my stance on selling music, myself, ultimately deciding that if I’m going to put as much time and energy into making music as the music really deserves, I should at least get a couple bucks for it. However, I still make low quality mp3s available for free elsewhere, even if all my current full albums on Bandcamp require some form of compensation (even if that’s just an acknowledgement of naming a $0 price for Wasp.
But, completely reversing his stance on digital music entirely and switching to a completely analog label, specializing in vinyl and cassettes? What is this, 1983? Mr. E&R Records, will you be providing 8-tracks of your music? And MiniDiscs? Seriously? For, what, the 5 people who still have MiniDisc players? My real question, though, isn’t even about the technology. That, I sort of understand.
By taking a stance against digital, he sets himself apart from a growing movement in the music industry towards digital. When everything is going digital, he can set himself apart as being the lone misfit who still hangs on to the perceived higher fidelity of analog equipment and recording. Cassettes are a bit of a stretch, but whatever.
However, where does the music snobbery get him? Maybe he’s pissed off because I found where he posted his band, Enormous’, mp3s and downloaded them while the site was under construction. (Here’s a secret: they weren’t very good.) Where does the analog > digital, therefore we will not release any digital, ever, not even as a bonus or an add-on or so people can load their iPods with it mentality going to go? I get using analog to establish yourself in a particular niche, but completely disregarding digital music entirely is idiotic. In five years, music will not be physical at all except in limited edition releases. This is evidenced by Radiohead’s recent The King of Limbs album which was a digital-only release but included special-edition vinyl versions with enhanced packaging and art. Those that are interested in the art form, the tactile sensation of opening a record sleeve and spinning up a turntable will buy the physical version. Those that just want the music will get the mp3s. And that’s how the industry is going to work. Selling exclusively to independent record stores when the indies are rapidly being swallowed up by the BestBuys and the WalMarts and providing no way of legally getting your music in your car let alone on your headphones is a doomed business model. Get out of 1970, Ashley, or be eaten alive.
I would like to close my own little soapbox rant by commenting on his idea that “music isn’t digital.”
No. Music isn’t digital. But it’s not analog either. Music is sound. Any kind of reproduction is just that, a reproduction. Arguably, one medium is just as good as any other medium. Vinyl can be as distorting and awful as low-fidelity mp3s if you have a bad needle or a warped turntable or a bad receiver. One might say that lossless audio files are the closest thing to the original recording you can get, in which case, how could they possibly be inferior?
“Go to a mirror and take a good look at your ears. Do you see anything digital in there?”
No, but I don’t see anything analog in there, either.
