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Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the music industry waged war on the cassette

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Re: Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the music industry waged war on the cassette

#291

Post by thrtythreeforty »

carlosjobim wrote: post #284
NoMoreNicksLeft wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stream my own music, because you can do that now. It's $0/month, and I never have to worry about some cranky millionaire getting pissed at Spotify and yanking their music off of it. Nothing is so convenient that I'd ever pay an ongoing subscription. Those always feel like scams or ripoffs, and life in 2023 is so overfilled with subscriptions that they can't possibly be affordable to even you guys who make x3 what I…

Where do you get the free uplink?

Given that you already pay for an Internet connection, it's $0 marginal cost.

Re: Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the music industry waged war on the cassette

#292

Post by pixl97 »

cubefox wrote: post #254
AtlasBarfed wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's somewhat ridiculous if that is the reality. All of CD manufacturing, shipping, retail overhead is eliminated in streaming. In reality streaming should produce more money for talent, eliminate overhead, and put more pressure on recording companies profit margins. The height of the CD was ludicrous. A CD cost 15-20$ in the mid nineties, and cassettes, a more expensive and complicated medium, were half of that. S…

> Essentially music filled the world of bored teenagers once upon a time, but boredom has been destroyed in the modern world (replaced with media saturation ennui). Interessanting hypothesis. Do people listen to music less nowadays? It seems indeed not as dominant as in the 90s, I admit that.

If you're watching insta/tictok you're probably not also listening to music at the same time. Also kids these days listen to a much wider range of music then I was ever subjected to. We got whatever local radio stations could be picked up, or if your family had a collection and let you touch it. Now my daughter can pretty much pull up anything made on YouTube and play it from classic instrumental to whatever was released yesterday.

Re: Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the music industry waged war on the cassette

#293

Post by libraryatnight »

bazoom42 wrote: post #131
jacquesm wrote: post #7

"Home taping is killing music" The record companies did a fantastic job of killing music all by themselves, the quality has absolutely cratered and the occasional great artist that has made it through the long slog to recognition has done so despite the music industry, not because of. I spent a fortune on various formats and when streaming came along I simply refused to participate. I'm simply not going to pay a thir…

> the quality has absolutely cratered You just got old. It happens to everyone, and every generation says the same thing: The music I enjoyed when I was young and impressionable was great, but all the stuff they make nowadays is crap. People were whining about how Beatles destroyed music, how rock’n’roll was just monkey noise, how crooners like Sinatra wasn’t real singing.

I agree. People will tell you they have objective ways of proving the quality of music, it's emotional reactionary BS. It's an art that moves with culture and technology; the length of the song, the instruments, complexity - people are going to make what they feel and listen to what they like (and there will always be people making some version of something even if it's not popular - one of my friends is committed to metrical verse). With so many people making music (and art in general) now, writing off a generation's output based on what sold or showed up in commercial media is short sighted. "Music" is so much more than what's irritating the taste-keepers.

Re: Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the music industry waged war on the cassette

#294

Post by RHSeeger »

cubefox wrote: post #225
zirgs wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iTunes was not available everywhere. It was officially available in Eastern Europe only around 2011/2012. And in many other countries even later. Around the same time as Spotify which was a lot better service. Before that I could either buy ridiculously overpriced CDs or go to ThePirateBay which was available in my country from day one. So yeah - it absolutely was a service problem. Soon after Spotify appeared I stop…

> Soon after Spotify appeared I stopped pirating, because Spotify offered a much better service than piracy sites and brick & mortar stores for a reasonable price. The fact that revenue still hasn't returned to 1999 levels shows that the price is not "reasonable". They are forced to price it that low because otherwise people would just pirate the music. Many probably still do.

Alternatively, the 1999 levels weren't reasonable. Or the 1999 level isn't reasonably today because there's a LOT more entertainment alternatives vying for attention.

Re: Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the music industry waged war on the cassette

#295

Post by pessimizer »

cubefox wrote: post #17

The reality is that yes, cassettes really were responsible for a substantial downturn in music revenue in the late 70s and early 80s: https://i.insider.com/4d5ea2acccd1d54e7c030000 Then cassettes got replaced with CDs which (initially) were read only, which again saved the market from piracy ... until online piracy with Napster and MP3 players completely crushed the music market, but far worse than cassettes. Even 20…

The late 70s and early 80s was the dawn of tape trading, punk rock, rap, metal, and disco. 90% of it was only available through tape trading (or runs of 200 singles) because everyone had been shut out of a stagnant industry that was resting on AOR, super-decadent and overproduced prog, and continuing to throw money at the people who made money in the 60s.

As the 80s started, the record companies caught on and adjusted by hiring new A&R and getting into the clubs again. Then MTV happened.

Re: Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the music industry waged war on the cassette

#296

Post by jesprenj »

> Attempts to levy a tax on blank cassettes didn’t get traction in the UK.

In Slovenia, we pay a tax for blank media and audiovisual recorders. The law was put in place in 2020.

Source: https://www.uradni-list.si/glasilo-uradni-list-rs/vsebina/20...

Re: Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the music industry waged war on the cassette

#297

Post by allturtles »

deepspace wrote: post #268
bazoom42 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the quality has absolutely cratered You just got old. It happens to everyone, and every generation says the same thing: The music I enjoyed when I was young and impressionable was great, but all the stuff they make nowadays is crap. People were whining about how Beatles destroyed music, how rock’n’roll was just monkey noise, how crooners like Sinatra wasn’t real singing.

Watch this video, and tell me that there is no objective difference in quality between pre-2000 and post-2000 songs. With a few exceptions, modern music is autotuned-to-death, boring, indistinguishable crap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uMW2XsMx8Q

I have the same gut feeling that there has been a decline in quality, but I'm not sure that video makes the case.

In the previous 10 years (2013-2022) years the songs that clearly fit your description are "Closer" (2016), "Sunflower" (2018), "Stay" (2021). I'd probably say "Old Town Road" (2019) is pretty bad also, with a very boring, repetitive bass track. And "Despacito" (2017) is catchy but has the same cliche beat as a million other songs in the genre.

"Happy" (2013) is a fun song that could be compared to Bobby McFerrin's 1988 hit, "Uptown Funk" (2014) is a 70s throwback, "Hello" (2015) is a vocal fireworks show, "Blinding Lights" (2020) and "As It Was" (2022) are 80s throwbacks.

On the other hand is "Never Gonna Give You Up" (1987) actually a good song? Is "U Can't Touch This" (1990)? Is "Wannabe" (1996)? No, they are fun but none of these are really good songs.

I'm not sure just comparing the most recognizable song of each year gets you very far.

Re: Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the music industry waged war on the cassette

#298

Post by libraryatnight »

LanceH wrote: post #236
bazoom42 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the quality has absolutely cratered You just got old. It happens to everyone, and every generation says the same thing: The music I enjoyed when I was young and impressionable was great, but all the stuff they make nowadays is crap. People were whining about how Beatles destroyed music, how rock’n’roll was just monkey noise, how crooners like Sinatra wasn’t real singing.

Where are the ugly singers? Music is represented my a disproportionately high number of hot women (and less so men) with no room for others. There is obviously a standard other than musical quality in play. Today, it's mostly true that everything is available. The music that reaches the masses, though, is defined by production over musical quality. Would we even see or hear from Cass Elliot, Janis Joplin, or Patsy Cl…

They'd have a youtube channel and 8 million followers, whether or not you'd hear about them is debatable.

Mac Demarco is not a handsome man. Lady Gaga isn't winning any pageants, Adele was mocked for her weight,and then her weight loss, Lizzo's whole thing is self love because she gets harassed for her weight.

There will always be beautiful people produced and controlled for sale, and there will always be the talented, the weird, the outrageous that rise to public conscious - and some from all camps that do not.

Re: Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the music industry waged war on the cassette

#299

Post by jabroni_salad »

deepspace wrote: post #269
nemo44x wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Getting old is a tough pill to swallow. An early sign is when you don’t care about new music. Face it, popular music exists for teenagers to claim their spot. Their unique identity from previous generations. The new and fresh - it’s about today and they are today.

> The new and fresh But that's just the point. New music all sounds the same. Half-spoken, mumbled lyrics- check. Autotuned to death- check. Forgettable tunes- check.

That's weird, the stuff I'm listening to has good clarity and writing and inventiveness. I'm listening to people like cory wong, theo katzman, ariel posen, big wild, chris thile's various groups, john grant, louis cole.

Maybe whatever you're using to find new music just sucks? blink twice if it's a clearchannel playlist.

Re: Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the music industry waged war on the cassette

#300

Post by taeric »

wizofaus wrote: post #281
taeric wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There really aren't objective metrics. There are quantifiable metrics, but turning something into a number doesn't make it fully objective. And nothing pushes for bland personalities near as much as people pining for the past.

That last statement might hold for "recent past" (last 10 or 15 years, say), but the one recent top 40 hit that stood out for me has a 50s type vibe (Until I Found You, Stephen Sanchez). I'm not particularly a fan of that style (well before my time!) but it's surely not "bland".

There are nuances there. I am not claiming that older things are bland. I'm saying that the people that are constantly pining on the past are. Really, it is more that they often make choices that lead to bland results.
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