Do you think the current accessibility of music is a good thing?

[noel411]

Being able to just get whatever you want within minutes with the click of a button. Do you think it's a good thing?

I think it kind of bites dick.

It has completely ruined the excitement of getting a new album. Also means a lot of potentially good albums get overlooked. It was cool back in the day where you had to pick and choose which cd's you would buy. And then it's like I spent good money on this, plus it's the only new shit I have, I'm gonna keep on listening to it even though it doesn't sound that great. A lot of albums would grow on you and even hold a special place in your musical upbringing.

Now it's like if an album's not very good then fuck it, why bother? I'll check out some other ones. You might end up missing out on what could have been a great album if you'd been patient.

For me I pretty much don't check out any new albums in any genre, so supporting artists and shit isn't really a factor for me. I have probably averaged about 2 new releases per year in the last few years, and I still buy the cd's, and it's exciting when they arrive. But sure as shit not as exciting as it used to be when it was the only way I could get music.

Then there was the whole thing of your friends or your brother's friends copping a new album. And it was like 'so and so has this album'. And they'd share it around. Then you'd share your shit too. Likewise when you'd hear of an album, and then it's like 'so and so' has this album. I remember when a friend at high school moved in down the street when I was 12. He had an older sister who worked in a music shop. She had this big shoebox full of classic hip hop albums. This was in '95 I think. Maybe '96. That's where I first heard Cuban Linx, Redman and Keith Murray's early albums, so much classic shit. I'd borrow a handful at a time. It was like I'd hit the fucking jackpot.

Then I'll read these autobios of musicians from the 60's and shit. And they'll talk about when they were kids and someone would cop an LP. How people would travel to listen to an LP they heard somebody copped. Just listen. Of course they couldn't copy it. That shit is fucking awesome. Every song would count.

It's just modern society. We've ruined absolutely everything with over-convenience, comfort and indulgence. Straight up fuck the world.

At the same time it's great like at the moment I'm reading a book about the history of the blues, and I can read about these recordings from the 30's and shit and just go online and have them on my ipod within an hour and shit. Yeah, that's pretty great. But at the same time I miss out on the romance of the chase. Hunting down these obscure recordings. Makes it so much more rewarding when you hear it.

Anyway, your thoughts?

[The Hound]

Yeah I agree. This is why I'm still in to vinyl and I go diggin spending all day in a few record shops just picking shit out carefully.

I remember in the late 90's sanity at my local Westfields used to have a hip hop shop section next door and I'd go in and spend ages just deciding on a cd to purchase and yore right I would have a cd and just share it around with friends and they'd do the same. Back when we could make real mixtape.

I find I don't give a shit about albums anymore. I used to have my handful of albums I thrashed and they're special to me because of it. Probably around 2005/06 was the last time I had the sharing of albums thing because a guy I worked with was a huge hip hop fan and put me on to so much underground shit but so dr then I'm out of albums.

[Sir Artsdradamus]

I do miss the anticipation of buying a new tape or cd and the artwork and everything else that goes with it, but I see good points to it also.

Because of the internet and services like spotify, siruis xm, itunes and pandora, i've found some music that I would have never have known about. By the time you get to be our age, your less likely to be into new music. It's pretty much the way every generation has been. So to be able to find new music that I like (instead of what's being force-fed to us on the radio) is a big advantage compared to generations past.

[The Hound]

I think the biggest plus and it's how I use the digital age is to find older stuff I would never be put on to. Noel spoke of the 60's but back then you're mostly subjected to the radio plays and popular stuff. I've been put on to a lot of stuff I wouldn't have ever heard of without the digital era to go back and look through. But for new releases yeah I think it sucks.

[TSA]

yeah i do miss the anticipation but i grew up when that was a part of the music industry. Young people still anticipate shit like Future and Drake's album but they're just not going to buy it. Everything is fast food now and made for the moment, but there are still moments of anticipation plus the social media frenzy for major projects. So it's a different kind of anticipation, but it's shittier and less meaningful and we won't give a fuck because it's not the type we grew up with.

[Rev Jones]

yeah I used to spend a few hours a week comparing what was available in various records stores, look at the artwork, think about how great the features would be and then go back at the weekend to go cop one, maybe two albums. it was fantastic

same with movies really. I'd go to the videostore charlesjones style & spend in between half an hour and an hour just picking the right movie to watch that evening before going out

it just goes to show how much faster our lives have become over the years. or have they ? the time I used to spend on records stores etc outside I now spend inside surfing the net ... something to think about

I used to love leaving school and later work as fast as possible to get to the record store to check out THE release of the week the day it dropped (Tuesdays here) - just to check out the tracklist haha, and if I was lucky buy it too. can't count the times I gave a fuck about torrential rain (welcome to Belgium) to get to the wrecka stow by bike to check out new releases the day they dropped

I stopped buying albums in 2004 and I rapidly noticed I became a consumer of music rather than somebody who enjoyed music to the fullest. I'd have much more music on deck, but was less invested in it. this is one of the reasons why I decided to cop real albums again last year

there used to be tons of record stores in my city, now there's only the music department in big stores, maybe one niche vinyl shop too ... I guess it is what it is

[b-dolo]

That was a good time to be a fan of rap music. When I first old enough to have a job and have money to buy Cd's it took me forever to figure out what to buy. I think I had a broader scope of what I thought was good rap music back and it wasn't like you could just download album or listen to YouTube first before buying, you were kinda just taking a chance.

I still buy Cd's today this day. There is a lot of older material I buy online that I could not afford when I was younger or it wasn't a must have at the time. For me buying Cd's is a hobby,it is like someone collecting baseball cards, stamps, coins, etc. I like having artwork, liner notes, who was sampled, and production credits.