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PART 2: The CD Conundrum: Coasters or Collectors Items (What to do with my 1,000+ CDs?!?)
Back in November of 2009 I wrote a post about what to do with all of the CDs I own. In that post I talked about why I needed a solution and what the possible ideas were. You can have a read of that post here:
Part One of The CD Conundrum: Coasters or Collectors Items (What the hell should I do with my 1,000+ CDs?!?)
Since then, my physical CDs purchases have been next to nil. I am buying primarily downloads, save for my now growing vinyl collection (which is my fave format). I'm not sure I will ever buy another physical CD again (sorry my old friend, liner notes...I'll just have to rely on websites and PDFs when they are available).
I just found this picture today. This is my music collection circa 2002. This is the first apartment my wife and I lived in together. I had to fight to steal this closet space (still paying for it today).
CDs are just dead. Shit, I don't even have a CD player anymore. I bought a killer Yamaha tuner a while back and when I did, I decided that the CD player was not needed. My thinking then (and now) was that I would just rip the CDs to my hard-drive and stream it via Air Tunes throughout the house. If I had a house that I owned today rather than all of this global transient apartment living, I would trick that casa out with the top of the line audio with all the super geeky tech stuff. I digress...
In a recent post, The Rise of the Streamers, I questioned the notion of streaming versus owning your music. There was some healthy debate on the topic. I did miss the mark on taking a deeper look at another angle: still owning your music (CDs) and transferring it al into the cloud. This tangent is more in line with my first post on this subject, what to do with the music...all those damn CDs...that I now own.
I have come to a decision on what I will do with all of my CDs.
When I replaced all of my cassettes with CDs I threw the tapes away. We were talking about two different beasts then. There was no relationship between the two. CDs and digital files are another matter. I can turn water in to wine with these.
My music collection, Judd's Juke Joint, totals 1,515 albums. The collection is comprised of 1,065 CD (box sets included) and 450 downloads. Whew...that's a lot of plastic and paper. I also have 107 pieces of vinyl...but they aren't going anywhere.
So this is the plan:
- This winter I will rip the rest of my collection to external hard-drives. I have over 25,000 songs dumped into iTunes as of today. That is not my entire collection, but it is a larger portion of it.
- Once I have my entire collection in bits & bytes, I will make a few back-ups of the hard-drives with one master that I can add to as I buy new stuff. Each month I will clone it over to my back-ups.
- I am going to find a cloud storage service to put the entire thing in. Dropbox, Google Docs...not sure what yet. If there was an option that had a player that I could use/stream with or take my own songs and embed playlists with or share to social sites, etc...I would prefer that. Not sure what the cloud solution is yet, but will research it heavily.
- @dopeburger and I were talking about uploading to the cloud in Part One of this post-series. We were envisioning a 'bandwidth-bar' or someplace you could go to rent screeching-fast upload speeds to upload mass file-age. Uploading 1,500+ albums to the cloud is going to be costly. I want to do it right once, make it as inexpensive as possible and simple. Very simple. I think that I brought up a retail chain, like Costco, that would sell a wide pipe and warp speeds on the cheap to make this happen. Cool idea.
- I'm going to dismantle my entire CD collection...separate the CD & liner nots from the pastic.
- I will buy some simple storage solution to catalog all of the CDs in. I think I can get that down to a couple/few boxes. If anything, this makes me feel better knowing that at least 70% of my collection is backed up by "hard copies".
Once I get this done, I will invest in the latest and greatest technology to trick out my flat or house so that my music is always ready to play anytime and in any room. I also want to be able to play my stuff anywhere...the cloud service I end up using will be key here.
For the past eight months I have only been buying downloads and vinyl. That is the way forward. With downloads, where possible, I will buy higher quality files (as I did with Arcade Fire's new album & offerings...they nailed that execution...and their interactive album is cool, too).
I will continue to buy vinyl...old and new. I will carefully curate my collection so that I focus on top vinyl-album-experiences (Layla, Pet Sounds, etc.). the new vinyl will be in two forms...new albums on high quality vinyl (i.e. 180 grams) and special re-releases of killer classic albums. The new albums refers to new shit such as The Black Keys, "Brothers" (love this album) and Tom Petty & The Ass-Kickers, "Mojo". If new release albums come with download codes...all the better.
The Old-New releases come in flavors such as the limited edition Neil Young 4 album set and the re-release of the Stones, "Exile on Main St.". The Neil set is fucking bow-down. He has plans to release more classic and lost album on the black beauties and I will buy them all.
OK...sounds like a good plan. I have a few months still before I kick out the jams on this project. Am I missing something? Anyone have any suggestions on how I can improve my master plan?
The Rise of the Streamers; To Own or Rent Your Music. That...is the Question
I must have been about about thirteen at the time. My allowance wasn't cutting it. I was fast running out of dough and I needed to make some bread: there were records to buy. It was around this time that I discovered the holly grail of hoaxes...The Columbia Record House.
I had pulled an advert for the club out of Rolling Stone mag. I read it a couple times over to be sure that I was getting this right: "You mean to tell me that one red cent was going to get me twelve free albums? Not only that, but with my subscription, I receive the "selection of the month"...without asking for it?.
No shit.
Shit, yes, my young self. Shit, yes...
I remember thinking that it couldn't have been right. I was about to ask my old man about it, that is, until the devil in the detail reared it's timely head. The fine print said there was a monthly charge. Shit. So much for teenage logic...I also chose to ignore the fine print. What to do about that monthly charge for the monthly selection? Hey...I was only looking for solutions to my then current cash crunch, not new problems. Plus, my old man was smarter than me then. He would have seen my wheels cranking a mile away and stopped me cold. I decided I'd keep this one to myself.
I then started in on year long game of hide and seek with The Columbia Record House Club: I would hide from my parents all the cassettes that came in the mail and Columbia House would seek payment via repeated "pay now" letters. It was a viscous but virtuous cycle. The grind of racing home after school to get deliveries and collection letters was unrelenting, but I was doing it for a good cause...for the gain of musical knowledge.
I was thinking about this yesterday when I was replying to post from a music-friend's blog, "IckMusic". IckMusic is run by Pete Icke. Pete's post touched on his brand spankin' new Rdio account and of how he is using it to stream music. I asked Pete, another voracious music consumer, if streaming music was resulting in an increase in music listening or replacing the means in which he was currently devouring his tunes.
Pete said that he is spending more time listening to music and that Rdio is not only being used for music discovery, but it is eating into his iTunes usage. Pete also asked the question, "if all music is accessible from any device in your life, why waste the time downloading a MP3 or buying a CD?"
Good point, Pete. More so I think that the real question is: Buy or Rent?
This is when I started to think about my Columbia House days. That was a subscription/buffet service, too...but I owned it all (well, eventually after I had to come clean to the old man and he had to pay all those past due charges). The rise of the streamers is upon us and the bait is mighty tempting. Rdio, MOG, Pandora, GrooveShark, Spotify (and Google Music and Apple in the Cloud sorting their shit out)...they are here and they are offering up "millions of songs on demand", "a world of music" and "free internet radio". With lures like those, it is hard to resist having a look at what streaming has to offer.
I'm over a barrel on this one, though. My music collection...my rider by my side, bow-down, 1,500+ album music collection....I own all that shit. The damn thing comes damn close to defining me. Owning it is what it is all about...or what is has been all about. I'm no where near a fulltime streamer yet, but what has changed for me is what I own...what format that is. This most certainly will have implications for how I consumer in the future.
Of my 1,500+ albums, about 65% are CDs and the rest downloads. The CDs are legacy items, relics. My shift to digital music has been rapid over the past few years, especially while I was living in Australia where it was hard to get obscure/off the charts CDs. Not only have I been buying more digital, I have been buying a lot more vinyl, too. I've gone from no vinyl prior to December 2008 to 100+ pieces of black gold to date. My buying habits, which are well above average, focus on digital and vinyl...I haven't bought a physical CD in over eight months.
My buying habits are changing, but I am still buying. Do I stream music? Am I a premium member of any services? Yes and Yes. I am a premium Spotify and GrooveShark member and I use last.fm regularly. Because I live in London I can't access Pandora, MOG or Rdio (or HULU, for that matter). I have free accounts and use them when I am in the States. I like to use streaming for music discovery or checking out a new album. For the record, Spotify is a great service. The mobile access via the iPhone app is very handy. I can see why streaming is so damn attractive.
I do have a couple issues with not owning and streaming:
Less is more: Just because you have access to the buffet doesn't mean you have to sample every morsel of food on it. Oh, you can (and you have), but all you get is nasty stomach ache. Buffets are misleading. Everything looks good and every bowl and platter is always full. Not only is food a plenty, its cheap, too....all you can eat for $X.99. Fill up your plate with lots of this and lots of that...you don't have to eat it all...take a bite and leave the rest. There are too many buffets being gorged and not enough meals being eaten and enjoyed.
Music is so disposable now that people don't have to get invested in the listening experience. The barriers are gone, scarcity is dead and, unless you are a serious music fan, why should you bother? I am a serious music fan....I am a fan of the front-to-back album listening experience. With the rise of the streamers...and singles...the album experience is an endangered species.
Access: Streaming requires a good service and it requires a broadband/wi-fi (mobile) connection. Yes, the latest and greatest apps have an offline cache capabilities, but that isn't always to be effective (now)...unless you always plan out your offline tracks and albums. Don't even start on switching costs. What if Rdio changes policy or Spotify pisses off the labels or Pandora's good deals go bad? What happens to your rented collection? You can't take it with you when you go...can you?
Access can also mean the breadth and depth of catalog and features/services. Right now it is a dog's breakfast of streaming services all with varying degrees of goodies and features. Overtime that will correct itself. While competition is a good motivator for improvements, the end user is going to dictate how to and how much access there is.
Much like any fad, trends or other influencers, it will all start at the edges and work its way in. By the time it becomes critical mass, all of the technology, rights management, inventory, online/offline crap will be sorted. It is safe to say that the physical format is dead to rights. Vinyl will live on, yes, but it is for collectors, sound hounds and album freaks only (like me). Streaming and cloud collections will win out and that is not a bad thing.
Until it is the only game in town, my jury is still out on the Buy or Own verdict. I do like streaming and the thought of having my music (that I own) in the cloud for 24/7 anywhere, any place action is very cool. I love my music collection. It warms my heart, like a good whiskey does, when I look at it and I pick through it (however, I don't see the need for the CDs anymore). Like I said, I am a serious music fan. Serious music fans are a different beast with different habits and should not be used as the example. The massess, technology and speed-to-cool of the streaming/cloud services uptake will decide the way forward. I'm going to tow the owning line for awhile and keep on streaming on until I reach my breaking point.
Click here to download:
the-rise-of-the-streamers-to-own-or-rent-your-music-that-is-the-question-6PaCZGLVEbu5IWE29NEJ.zip (5455 KB)
Oddly, some of the box sets...cds...that I still own today came from my Columbia House Years. In college and a few years after that, I used the old "hide and seek" model again. This time around I paid, but I always bailed as soon as I got my introductory CD booty. Those precious gems were the germs of what my collection has turned out to be today.
My collection started in New Hampshire, moved on to Rhode Island, got good in Boston, rode shotgun on down to Florida and then followed me to Australia and now to London. It's been with me every at every turn. My relationship with my collection is older than the one with my wife of nine + the courtin' years. Putting it in the cloud and streaming it anywhere, anyplace is the killer app, but...not owning and just renting streamed songs...it just doesn't feel right. Not now, not yet, anyway...
if you are still reading this ridiculously long post, let me ask you...are you an owner or a streamer and how are your habits changing?
It's not what you play, it's how you play it: live music puts a tiger in my tank
"Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio."
That is a quote by one of my heroes: Hunter S. Thompson. Hunter...I miss your honesty, your true grit and your wisdom. Oh, your wisdom; the wisdom found in this statement prances and preens like one of your precious proud peacocks. I can't agree more with what Hunter is saying here: Music = Fuel.
I want to take that one step further. If music is indeed fuel, then live music is super-unleaded; high-test; moonshine.
I've been heavily into the live portion of my collection as of late. Great live albums/songs are touchstones to me. If I need a pick me up, if I need to be jolted or if I just need a cheap thrill...I can always turn to some fave live music.
Case in point...I am trolling the back catalog lately in anticipation for three purchases that will happen in the next two weeks: all of them live.
I love this time of the year. Record labels are putting out lush box sets hoping to hook holiday gift buyers and solo splurgers. I am a
record company's chum; sharks sniff me out and attack and rip me...and my wallet...to shreds. Bring it on. These sets tend to be grandiose with a price tag to match. It is not that I have money to burn...if I did I would be an arsonist...but I know what I like and what I gots-ta have.
The three sets I am pacing the floor for are:
The Rolling Stones: Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out [40th Anniversary Deluxe Version]. This is the proud black panther crawlin' up and down my hall. As far as live music goes, this may be the best show of 'em all: a flat-out, hands-down, sure-bet live masterpiece. This set has the whole kit and caboodle: Three LPs, three CDs, one DVD, books, posters and a lock of Mick's pubic hair. Go HERE to check out this magnificent booty.
This album may contain my fave live tune EVER: "Little Queenie". This song has it all: Mick teases the home crowd with a shout out ("You talk a lot New York City...."), it is a cover tune and it takes that cover tune and turns it into a stone cold monster...a raunchy, only when the moon is full, full-tilt, evil-twin version. It also has multiple guitar solos in it. "Little Queenie" sets the standard for what live rock and roll can be. All this and it has Keef Richards playing some of the his best riffs ever. Dirty.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: quot; target="_blank">The Live Anthology. Four CDs of live TP & The HBs from way back to right now. Everything I hear about this positions it as bow-down material. I think I have to go BluRay version for this.
Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom - Live. I'm going for vinyl on this one. When ever I get done with a Tom Waits listening session I am unsure whether or not red means stop and green means go. Tom Waits swims against the current.
Live music...it is going to be my fuel for the holidays. I want to share a few fave live tunes with you. There is NO WAY I could begin to put together a list of ALL of my faves...not possible. What I have for you here are ten front-burner faves that I always can turn to when my gage reads "E".
Normally I like to embed a playlist here in this post; I couldn't find all the songs I wanted to share. Instead, I am gifting them to you in a download. Tis the season, eh? Here is what you will find in the playlist, including a bit of twitter'esque commentary on each:
- Everyday I have the Blues (BB King - "Live at the Regal"): this is the first song on the album. The crowd is in BBs hand before Lucille's second solo rings out.
- Live Wire (AC/DC - "Bonfire"): This takes place in a radio studio with a small live crowd. How do they strike sparks this fast?! Combustible music.
- Mean Woman Blues (Jerry Lee Lewis - "Live at the Star Club, Hamburg Germany"): Pure, unadulterated raw power. The Killer is on fucking fire here.
- Walk It Talk It (Lou Reed - "American Poet"): Again this one is recorded live in a radio studio. Lou Reed is a rock and roller on this one...it has a definite Chuck Berry sound.
- Cowgirl in the Sand (Neil Young - "Live at the Fillmore"): Neil covers the spectrum of his guitar playing abilities on this: intense. Listen to Jack Nitschze's haunting piano: creepy.
- Little Queenie (Rolling Stones - "Ya-Ya's"): Like I said, this is unmatched R&R.
- Don't Think Twice Its Alright (Eric Clapton - "Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Special"): "Bobfest", as dubbed by Neil. This might be Clapton's last great performance. The second guitar solo makes your head shake involuntarily. Whew. And...its a cover song.
- Emotionally Yours (The O'Jays - "Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Special"): Wow...this song has that rising power that takes you soaring with it. Emotional, indeed...
- Caravan (Van Morrison - "Last Waltz") - Another qualifier of live greatness: the all-star jam. Van takes this one over the top with a handful of crescendos...and with a crazy purple spandex outfit [yikes!]
- You Don't Know Like I Know: (Sam & Dave - "The Complete Stax Singles, Disk 4"): Arguably two of the greatest live performers ever. Listen to the fun and excitement in this one. You can't help but move to it.
Download the "Live Moonshine" playlist HERE.
