What's the point of a record collection?
(Originally published at http://christopherengland.com - reproduced here for the entertainment and commentary on the Anorak Nation)
Why do people bother buying and hoarding things like films, DVDs, CDs, mp3s, etc., etc.?
It seems to be quite a pointless and old fashioned exercise in this modern day and age.
Let's examine the concept.
Let's say I hear the latest from Skrillex. I decide I love it.
Now then, were this 40 years ago (Hey, wow, imagine if dubstep had actually been around in the 1970s, yay!), then my instinctive and only real option would have been to run off to a record store, purchase the single or album and bring it home and play it over and over again on my little record player.
Whenever I wanted to hear it again I would drag it out of its sleeve and wop it on the turntable. If I wasn't at home, then maybe I could record from my record player onto a cassette and listen to the cassette recording on the move using, well, a portable cassette tape player.
In the context of what was available in the old days, I would have needed to have had my own collection of singles and albums in order to be able to instantly access any specific tune as the whim caught me.
Not today.
Today I do not need to actually own or hold my own personal copies of any song or tunes whatsoever. Why would I? Everything is instantly available online for the moment I want to hear it.
Any song I can think of, I can get to instantly play to me across a number of platforms, whether they be attached to my super-dooper hi-fi system, or to my mobile phone and associated headset. Indeed, even just starting at Youtube, I can search for and play not only any song from the last 100 years, but also I get to be able to watch the associated video as well. And it's free. So, why should I need to store a copy of the song 'locally'? That's just senseless duplication, or over-the-top fanboiism, surely? Heck, I remember years ago when 'fans' would buy every format of their idol's new song. But, for normal people there's no longer a need to buy anything, it's all already just there waiting for them to press play.
When Youtube isn't the answer, there are plenty of streaming music sites. Some are free, others cost virtually nothing to subscribe to. Again, this gives me instant and unfettered access to whatever I want to hear, whenever I want to hear it. So, why would I also want to actually download a copy and store it locally, let alone buy a physical version? It's all pointless, isn't it?
I mean, if I lived at the seaside, why would I need to keep hundreds of barrels of seawater as well?
Some people boast about how many songs they have copies of. "My six different 3-terabyte portable drives store over 50-gazillion songs," they'll crow at me.
Well, nurr nurr nurrr, my collection is far far bigger than that and I didn't have to buy anything to store it on, did I?
You have spoken along similar lines before , Christopher. I did read this article on your website a few days ago but did not get round to commenting on there.
Basically , i don't agree. My misic collection is very important to me. I have multiple back-up's of it to ensure against data loss - yes , it's electronic , not vinyl records or tapes. I do have some CD's as well , but only a couple of hundred. Yes, you can watch just about anything on Youtube , but many are posted by private individuals , and the sound quality is very variable. Sound qualioty is quite important to me i have to say as i have a pretty descent sound system at home so can tell the difference when things are not what they might be. Having said that , i am not paranoid about it and as long as it's good , that's fine. Having my collection stored locally means i can access any track within seconds by just using windows file search. yes, i could play music from online streaming from something like Spotify , but would have to put up with adverts which i am allergic to , or pay to listen ad free. Also i would be using data allowance on my internet connection for something that i might as well just have stored at home. Of course, most of what's in my music collection has been downloaded from the Internet in the first place , but once i have got it stored - that's it - i have got it for ever to keep.
Ah, but let's say you're staying in a third world UK hotel that charges
£6 an hour for wi-fi which has a speed around 56K. What then ah ah ah :-)
TRUE, a friend during the olympics SMSed me saying London was rip-off heaven and needed help. I got him free wifi at the Slovak Olympic House.
Eric
(Originally published at http://christopherengland.com - reproduced
here for the entertainment and commentary on the Anorak Nation)Why do people bother buying and hoarding things like films, DVDs,
CDs, mp3s, etc., etc.?It seems to be quite a pointless and old fashioned exercise in this
modern day and age.Let's examine the concept.
Let's say I hear the latest from Skrillex. I decide I love it.
Now then, were this 40 years ago (Hey, wow, imagine if dubstep had
actually been around in the 1970s, yay!), then my instinctive and
only real option would have been to run off to a record store,
purchase the single or album and bring it home and play it over and
over again on my little record player.Whenever I wanted to hear it again I would drag it out of its
sleeve and wop it on the turntable. If I wasn't at home, then maybe
I could record from my record player onto a cassette and listen to
the cassette recording on the move using, well, a portable cassette
tape player.In the context of what was available in the old days, I would have
needed to have had my own collection of singles and albums in order
to be able to instantly access any specific tune as the whim caught
me.Not today.
Today I do not need to actually own or hold my own personal copies
of any song or tunes whatsoever. Why would I? Everything is
instantly available online for the moment I want to hear it.Any song I can think of, I can get to instantly play to me across a
number of platforms, whether they be attached to my super-dooper
hi-fi system, or to my mobile phone and associated headset. Indeed,
even just starting at Youtube, I can search for and play not only
any song from the last 100 years, but also I get to be able to
watch the associated video as well. And it's free. So, why should I
need to store a copy of the song 'locally'? That's just senseless
duplication, or over-the-top fanboiism, surely? Heck, I remember
years ago when 'fans' would buy every format of their idol's new
song. But, for normal people there's no longer a need to buy
anything, it's all already just there waiting for them to press
play.When Youtube isn't the answer, there are plenty of streaming music
sites. Some are free, others cost virtually nothing to subscribe
to. Again, this gives me instant and unfettered access to whatever
I want to hear, whenever I want to hear it. So, why would I also
want to actually download a copy and store it locally, let alone
buy a physical version? It's all pointless, isn't it?I mean, if I lived at the seaside, why would I need to keep
hundreds of barrels of seawater as well?Some people boast about how many songs they have copies of. "My six
different 3-terabyte portable drives store over 50-gazillion
songs," they'll crow at me.Well, nurr nurr nurrr, my collection is far far bigger than that
and I didn't have to buy anything to store it on, did I?Free thought + Free speech + Free radio = Anorak Nation
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I can see the case for streaming music - it appeals to the Geek in me - but....
As has been stated - quality of audio is an issue. I enjoy listening on a high-ish end set of speakers - and there are some truly terrible copies of audio floating around the cyber world - it takes time to seek out and store good clean audio copies, and importantly, at a high sample rate. Also, audio levels are all over the place - I like to have known levels - EQ is often tweekable to improve a track, sometimes a bit of limiting can improve the punch - in other words - I fart around with every track in my collection to try and eek out that little bit extra.
Storage is so cost effective these days - why not collect stuff? - I see both ways being used by me - but I certainly won't be dropping my collection any time soon....
:)
PS: I don't have a zillion tracks (about 6,000ish) people who quote having 100s of thousands of tracks must surely have loads of crud in their collections? How many "good" tracks are there? - I have stuff in my collection I will probably never play - but keep them "just in case".
I probably have about 70,000 tracks collected over the last 11 years or so. Yep most I'll never play, but I DJ now and again here and there. I remember during a charity Help For Heroes night, I was taking £1 donations for requests. One guy came up and asked me for Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs, saying he would give me 2 quid if I played it. Who? I asked, he turned round to his missus and said "I told you he wouldn't have it!" I replied that "I've never heard of it doesn't mean I don't have it!" Luckily I was able to make another 2 quid for H4H. I tend to have all the old stuff I need, my collection only seems to grow now with new stuff that I need to carry.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Knight <(Address removed)>
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2012 08:27:26
To: <(Address removed)>
Subject: Re: [Anorak Nation] What's the point of a record collection?I can see the case for streaming music - it appeals to the Geek in me - but....
As has been stated - quality of audio is an issue. I enjoy listening on a high-ish end set of speakers - and there are some truly terrible copies of audio floating around the cyber world - it takes time to seek out and store good clean audio copies, and importantly, at a high sample rate. Also, audio levels are all over the place - I like to have known levels - EQ is often tweekable to improve a track, sometimes a bit of limiting can improve the punch - in other words - I fart around with every track in my collection to try and eek out that little bit extra.
Storage is so cost effective these days - why not collect stuff? - I see both ways being used by me - but I certainly won't be dropping my collection any time soon....
:)
PS: I don't have a zillion tracks (about 6,000ish) people who quote having 100s of thousands of tracks must surely have loads of crud in their collections? How many "good" tracks are there? - I have stuff in my collection I will probably never play - but keep them "just in case".
Free thought + Free speech + Free radio = Anorak Nation
--
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Having still got a radio station library, I kind of have LOTS :-) But do we play them, no not really.
Material comes out at specific times of the year - <cough 208 Anorak Alert> - On Christmas morning we listen to one of the satellite 208 mornings - well it's all wall to wall Christmas Toones. Then we'll have a good blast of more Christmas material.
The annual family barby tends to be a day full of 80s/90s with a smattering of 70s and me trying to plug in new material :-)
That's about it really.
Eric
I can see the case for streaming music - it appeals to the Geek in
me - but....As has been stated - quality of audio is an issue. I enjoy
listening on a high-ish end set of speakers - and there are some
truly terrible copies of audio floating around the cyber world - it
takes time to seek out and store good clean audio copies, and
importantly, at a high sample rate. Also, audio levels are all over
the place - I like to have known levels - EQ is often tweekable to
improve a track, sometimes a bit of limiting can improve the punch
- in other words - I fart around with every track in my collection
to try and eek out that little bit extra.Storage is so cost effective these days - why not collect stuff? -
I see both ways being used by me - but I certainly won't be
dropping my collection any time soon....:)
PS: I don't have a zillion tracks (about 6,000ish) people who quote
having 100s of thousands of tracks must surely have loads of crud
in their collections? How many "good" tracks are there? - I have
stuff in my collection I will probably never play - but keep them
"just in case".Free thought + Free speech + Free radio = Anorak Nation
--
Anorak Nation: http://www.anoraknation.com/
Unsubscribe: (Address removed)?subject=unsubscribe
Thinking about random stuff as i was at work today, this topic came into my thoughts and another angle to Christophers argumant that there's no point of a record collection came to mind.
By suggesting this Christopher , you are also saying that there's no point in buying any music - either as downloads or hard copies. After all , you buy music to keep don't you - that's what buying things is all about. You buy things you like , so you can keep them. So by owning some music , you are also 'collecting' it by default.
Just a thought.
I must admit I did used to love rushing home after buying a vinyl record and taking it out the sleeve and playing it, it had a certain smell, I never really had that thrill with cd's. I must admit I used to love djing with vinyl, only did it a couple of times with cd's, but with a laptop it is a piece of cake, not as much fun as vinyl, but I doubt I could carry 70,000 singles around with me. Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Crees <(Address removed)>
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2012 19:12:16
To: <(Address removed)>
Subject: Re: [Anorak Nation] What's the point of a record collection?Thinking about random stuff as i was at work today, this topic came into my thoughts and another angle to Christophers argumant that there's no point of a record collection came to mind.
By suggesting this Christopher , you are also saying that there's no point in buying any music - either as downloads or hard copies. After all , you buy music to keep don't you - that's what buying things is all about. You buy things you like , so you can keep them. So by owning some music , you are also 'collecting' it by default.
Just a thought.
Free thought + Free speech + Free radio = Anorak Nation
--
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Unsubscribe: (Address removed)?subject=unsubscribe
I must admit I did used to love rushing home after buying a vinyl record and taking it out the sleeve and playing it, it had a certain smell, I never really had that thrill with cd's. I must admit I used to love djing with vinyl, only did it a couple of times with cd's, but with a laptop it is a piece of cake, not as much fun as vinyl, but I doubt I could carry 70,000 singles around with me. Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Crees <(Address removed)>
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2012 19:12:16
To: <(Address removed)>
Subject: Re: [Anorak Nation] What's the point of a record collection?Thinking about random stuff as i was at work today, this topic came into my thoughts and another angle to Christophers argumant that there's no point of a record collection came to mind.
By suggesting this Christopher , you are also saying that there's no point in buying any music - either as downloads or hard copies. After all , you buy music to keep don't you - that's what buying things is all about. You buy things you like , so you can keep them. So by owning some music , you are also 'collecting' it by default.
Just a thought.
Free thought + Free speech + Free radio = Anorak Nation
--
Anorak Nation: http://www.anoraknation.com/
Unsubscribe: (Address removed)?subject=unsubscribe
Simon Crees <(Address removed)> said:
Of course, most of what's in my music collection has been downloaded
from the Internet in the first place , but once i have got it stored -
that's it - i have got it for ever to keep.
But it's not going to disappear from 'the internet' is it? So, really, you are just duplicating what's already there.
Streaming costs, yes, I'd agree there might be problems compared to storing your own collection, but data-flow is getting cheaper and cheaper, as coverage is getting greater and greater.
Mike Knight <(Address removed)> said:
I have stuff in
my collection I will probably never play - but keep them "just in case".
In case 'the internet' closes down forever one day?
Naaah. Can't see the point of having access to t'internet AND storing anything locally. The cloud has even taken over as far as gaming is concerned, rather than having to locally store 'games' for a console. So, it's the same with music. :)
Simon Crees <(Address removed)> said:
Thinking about random stuff as i was at work today, this topic came into
my thoughts and another angle to Christophers argumant that there's no
point of a record collection came to mind.By suggesting this Christopher , you are also saying that there's no
point in buying any music - either as downloads or hard copies.
After all , you buy music to keep don't you - that's what buying things
is all about. You buy things you like , so you can keep them. So by
owning some music , you are also 'collecting' it by default.Just a thought.
Well, in a greater sense, yes, there is no point in buying any music, especially when it's legally free.
Maybe we traditionally bought 'music to keep' because there wasn't another option to get to be able to play a specific 'thing' on demand. Nowadays the 'need' to buy music to keep in order to be able to play a specific thing on demand has been surpassed by 'the internet' supplying said specific thing to us on demand as required.
(BTW, you never 'own' the music even when you've paid for it, and there are copyright laws stopping you re-selling or even 'giving' the music to others!)
Where music isn't legally free to stream, then it seems fair to pay a premium in order to stream it. Otherwise, I guess, the music industry will completely collapse.
And, finally, as I said originally, my music 'collection' is just out there without me needing to covet actual copes of it locally.
