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Posts tagged ‘Streaming’

Jan 13

19 Comments

The Sound of One Fan Clapping: How I Became a Fan of Streaming Music and Lived to Tweet About It

Somewhere, right now, in a remote part of the world, a young Buddhist student with a thirst for knowledge and a desire to achieve enlightenment … is doing some stupid-ass chore that will only result in some mind-fuck riddle with no answer foolishness. How many Karate Kid remakes do we have to watch before we catch on that the little Asian man isn’t really teaching you shit; he’s only tricking you into painting his damn fence. 

Whether it is the meaning of life or someone searching for a plumber on Google, we humans are always looking for answers. Throughout time philosophers and Buddhists alike have asked thought provoking questions that both inspire and frustrate us. One such question is the notorious (novelty) head-scratcher: “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” 

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I am here to tell you people that I have solved this great conundrum and I didn’t have sit in silence for seventeen years or climb a mountain to figure it out. Okay, here it is … wait for it … the sound of one hand clapping is … the lonely music fan. 

Aha! Eureka! (queue the sound of pennies dropping)

Yes, you see now, don’t you? How could we have been so blind?  It makes sense, right? Sure, music listening can be a solitary thing, but that isn’t natural. Music is meant to be listened to with others, in a big field, on drugs with free love and fringe jackets. Music is meant to be listened to with friends and strangers, to be discussed, to pump fists to and to flash knowing glances at one another during cool organ fills. Music is meant to be shared.

My greatest fear of the unnecessary and unmerciful murders of the world’s local record shops would be that the innocent bystander community of music share-ers would catch a stray bullet. If there was no record shop, where would people go? How would we share? 

I never truly had faith that it would be the Internet, but I’m starting to. Don’t get me wrong, I am huge proponent of keeping the local record shop as a vibrant and communal place for people to go and live and breathe music with the other heads. I’ll be there to give it CPR when it gasps it’s last breath. 

In recent months my music listening habits have taken on two trends: more vinyl and more streaming online. I am enjoying getting back into the vinyl format. I enjoy buying it, listening to it and touching and feeling it. I find it all very rewarding. Unfortunately, there is a lot of one-handed clapping going on with my vinyl listening. I’m usually listening to vinyl by myself. I enjoy the hell out of it, but I’d enjoy it more if there was someone to spin with. 

The Internet music streaming is another world. I won’t call it an extension of the local record shop, because it is not. It is it’s own bits and bytes world with it’s own tricks of the trades. I am fast becoming a convert where music streaming is concerned. I am not convinced it is a solution; it is a decent stop gap until the next best thing. 

Last month I wrote a post called, “From now on all my friends will be strangers: Imaginary friends & sharing music”. In it I talked about how I was just starting to use music streaming services, I use this blog, music streaming sites and social networks to listen to, discover and share more music. All of this streaming, tweeting and sharing is really starting to manifest itself into something that I am enjoying the hell out of. 

I thought I’d share a few recent examples of how this is all coming together. Feel free to share your own experiences; we all may learn a thing or two from them. 

A Bit of Background
  • These are my Spotify and Rdio accounts I use for streaming and sharing. 
  • I use last.fm for scrobbling from my Spotify, Rdio & iTunes on my desktop
  • I have an Apple Ping account, but I am not going to share it with you, because that service is tits on a bull.
  • @Judd6149 is my Twitter profile i use to tweet about music and share songs from Spotify & Rdio
  • I have a personal Facebook account, but I try and keep that private for close friends and for people who insist on requesting friendship even after I shut them them down a half a dozen times until I relent and let them into my world. 
  • I did make a Facebook fanpage for this blog if you are interested. 
  • Web Friends: these are people I have only met online, but that I actually consider friends…until they start asking to borrow money.
Okay, ready? This is going to be kind of a knee-bone connected to the leg-bone, following the bouncing ball thing, so stay sharp!

Thinking Alike

There are eight web friends that I am following on Rdio. All of them are mutual followers of each other on Twitter. The newest member of the Rdio web friends recently mentioned @Rdio in a tweet asking about signing up for a premium service. I saw this and sent my web friend a tweet:

Dope_judd
He followed me straight away. Our little ecosystem of music heads that are on Rdio got connected. Within a couple hours this newest member of the Rdio bunch created a collaborative playlist and invited us to add to it. Within twenty-four hours we had a couple dozen songs in it and a string of comments discussing the what’s and why’s of the songs we dumped in.

When music heads collide, everyone is out to deliver the goods. No one wants to let the others down with a dud pick. This crew is all to the good. I got turned on to some Moby Grape, Belle & Sebastian and a Matthew Sweet/Susana Hoffs cover tune. Hot Damn!

Have a sampling of our collaborative Rdio playlist. Can you guess which tunes I contributed? 

The “Thinking Alike” Playlist

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The only inbox I would ever want to overflow with messages

I live in London. I can use Spotify. I hate to rub it in, but it is the shit. It’s shit stinks so good that I jumped in it’s deep end with premium account so I could sync to my iPhone. If want it in the free flavor, you can get it. You’ve heard all the hype, right? Well, it is that good. 

I have a few web-friends that have Spotify accounts in the States. The lucky ones can access the free version and all of the social / sharing features. I was talking to one of my lucky web friends in the States and he said he used and loved Spotify. We got connected and before I knew it…I had new tunes in my inbox. Slick. 

I got turned on to a few new sounds I had never heard from David Ackles, John Simon and a host of others. One song prompted me to shout out a tweet to my Spotify web friend:

Judd_ken

After that exchange, my web friend sent me to YouTube for … more sharing! He captured some footage of William Bell at a gig he went to. He had a heap of other vids on his channel and I spied half of them. Have a listen to that William Bell song I tweeted about; it is a stone cold soul stirrer supreme. 

http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf

Click here for “The Inbox Playlist“.  Sorry, if you are not in Europe or don’t have a stealth U.S. Spotify account, you will not be able to listen to this. If you had Spotify, after clicking on the link, your Spotify desktop app would open up and this playlist would be added to your collection.

Stop drooling. Spotify should be launching in the U.S. any day now … ahem. 
Spot
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Walking in Memphis…from London

In March of 2005 I moved to Sydney Australia. When I got there, instead of going to work, I went to graduate school to get an MBA. I was the only American in my cohort (it was a refreshing, unique and a story for another day). The cohort before us had a few Americans. Once of which was this cat from Memphis, Tennessee. He and I got on thick as thieves from the get go … over music, of course. 

Over the next year, before he moved back to the States, we did a lot of music sharing and concert going (actually, he was the one that told me about my beloved local record shop, Mojo Music). We went to the first gig the Kings of Leon played down under. It sucked. They played for less than an hour … as the headliner!  It ended up costing up more than a dollar a minute to see them play. Yuk. They redeemed themselves in 2008 when they came back and opened for Pearl Jam.

I was on Facebook the other day checking out old girlfriends when my Memphis buddy popped up to chat a bit. We were talking about bands and he threw me a few links. One of them was for a band out of Memphis called, “Reigning Sound”.  I had never heard of them.

It’s not often lightening strikes so quickly for me when it comes to new bands. The last time it happened was when I heard the Drive-By Truckers way back when. Instantly I liked them and instantly I liked Reigning Sound. I jumped on my Rdio account straight away and queued up their last few albums, starting with their latest, “Love and Curses”. Four songs in I went and purchased three albums. I’m not ready to anoint them with bow-down status, but I am putting them on the front burner for now. 

I shared a few songs on the above mentioned ‘Thinking Alike” collaborative playlist with my Rdio web friends. I also felt compelled to blurt out to the interweb ether how I felt about this band. Why? I don’t know…that’s just what cool music does to you!

Judd_rs
Talking to yourself on Twitter…very close to a one hand clapping situation. Check out a few sounds from Reigning Sound brought to you by another streaming / sharing service I use, Grooveshark. 

A Reigning Sound 3 Song Sampler from ‘Love and Curses”

(these are my fave raves thus far)

http://listen.grooveshark.com/widget.swf

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Had enough yet? Okay, one more. Here is a playlist I created on Rdio. I call it “Turn-Ons”. I drop these “double-take” song into this list as I hear them. The playlist is collaborative so anyone can add to it. Be my guest…

“Turn-Ons”

http://rd.io/e/QV5SUzMnoQ

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Whew! Is your head spinning? Are your ears ringing? Is your fist pumping? I damn well hope so. If you are trying to figure out your music / web process / experience, I hope I helped you see how it can all work. Everyday this year has been an ear opening experience. Only 352 days to go…don’t let it end so soon!

Don’t be a lonely, one hand clapping music fan anymore. Connect with me on my profiles and we’ll make beautiful music playlists together. 

No one likes to clap alone…

Dec 13

15 Comments

From Now On All My Friends Will Be Strangers: Imaginary Friends & Sharing Music

What in the hell happened to the friend? When did the friend become such an ambiguous and ill-defined concept? I have always had a group of good friends. These friends are actual carbon-based beings that I physically interact with. Yes, actual human contact: hand shakes, back slaps and bottle clanging interactions. Now it seems as though a lot of my friendships, specifically the online flavor, consists of interactions that involve @replies, comments and “likes”.

Since I started my personal world tour in ’05, that group of friends has become a gaggle of friends that spans the globe. I have always been able to make friends with most everyone, most everywhere I am. That is still true today, albeit the “everywhere” having morphed a bit. Today everywhere has expanded it’s boundaries to the web. 

This past weekend I was listening to a playlist I made a while back. On it was a Teddy Thompson cover of a Merle Haggard song, “From Now On All My Friends Will be Strangers”.  The song was nothing special and the subject matter didn’t have much to do with this post, but it was the title that got me to thinking about my online friends. 

I have a couple hundred friends on facebook. I have about 500 followers on twitter. I have handfuls of friends, followers and subscribers to various web-based services such as last.fm, Spotify and Rdio. I’d say that 90% of what I use the web for is music related. Of all of these connections, I’d say that a third of them are back and forth, real deal, reciprocal relationships. 

The strange part about all of this is that most of these people I haven’t actually met. I know them only by username, location, profile, “favorites”, lists and the like. Every now and then my wife asks me if I am online talking with my imaginary friends again.  ”Imaginary?! These are real people”, I say. To which she replies (complete with shit-eating grin), “Oh, so @ickmusic, @dopeburger, @ozzybeef and @addictedtovinyl are real people, eh?”

Damn straight they are.

Imaginary Friends: I like that. It makes me laugh, and, in a way, its true. A lot of the people I interact with on a weekly basis exist online (at least from my perspective). I don’t actually know them, but I know about them. Much like friends, I have come to trust and respect their opinions and tastes… particularly where music is concerned. 

When it comes to music, I am a voracious fan. I am always thinking about, buying, listening, discussing, reading and writing about music. I have always felt that the only thing better than listening to music is sharing it. This year I have been sharing more and having more music shared with me than ever before. The majority of this sharing has been with my circle of imaginary friends and by using a number of web based services to discover and disperse music throughout my imaginary friend network.  

All this sharing has effected my listening habits. I used to have a somewhat closed system. I would buy physical product, download into iTunes, put it on my iPod/iPhone and plug it into my ears. I would also make CDs for people or stick my machines into docking stations and shuffle through my collection at parties or mini music summits.

In time I started plugging my collection into the web. I first used last.fm‘s scrobbler (circa 2006). That was a trip. I could see what I was listening to online in real time…and others could see it as well. Cool.

Since then, the web has changed and changed how we all listen to, discover and consume music. I have changed my habits more this year than ever. Central to that change is the inclusion of others in my listening and discovery process. I thought it would be worthwhile to share my process…as well as my music. 

My primary “tool” is still iTunes (note: I am getting fed up with this bloated software). I dump everything in here and create playlisst. I buy (yes, I still buy and don’t steal) a lot of music, so I need to keep track of it to make sure I actually listen to it! I create two primary playlists in iTunes: 
  • “New New 2010″: all new releases in 2010, e.g. The Black Keys, “Brothers“
  • “New Old 2010″: this is music released prior to the current year that is new to me, e.g. The Black Keys, “Chulahoma“
I have last.fm‘s scrobbler plugged into iTunes and it shares my collection and listening habits on my last.fm profile. Each week last.fm tweets out my top three listened to artists to my twitter account. Last.fm is also integrated into my Spotify and Rdio profiles (no Pandora in Europe). My listens on those services get scrobbled by last.fm.

This is my first year using streaming/online radio services. I am not sold on these yet. I still want to own my music. 

A quick digression: “own”. What does this mean anymore? I own a lot of physical music (CDs and vinyl). I also own a lot of digital music, most of which I get via iTunes. Even though I still own this digital music…it doesn’t really exist in physical form (imaginary music…?). It sits on hardrives and lives in my macbook pro.  I’ve blogged about this conundrum before here and here.  I want to “solve” this very soon.

Until there is ubiquitous 10G, super-fast, all the time, everywhere, wireless, mobile broadband… I cannot go all in on streaming services. Spotify and Rdio have nifty “offline” syncing, but really that is just an excuse for not having the technology in place to go whole hog on the service. I don’t want to dry-hump my offline collection when I can’t get a signal. Hey, that may not be the service’s fault, but the knock-on effect is there. 

I use Spotify because, well, I can. I am in London, and unlike in the US, Spotify found a way to play nice with the record labels and get turned on in Europe. Rdio’s service is very similar to Spotify’s, but with a few more bells and whistles. I use them both primarily for music discovery…that could lead to purchase. Spotify has “radio stations” that you can create by genre and decade. Rdio has “Rdio stations” that you can create by artist. I am digging the latter. 

For instance, I don’t own an Avett Brothers, but was interested in listening to their sound.  I searched for them and then clicked on “Play Rdio Station” based on their music. I let that run through 25 songs. While listening to that/any station there may be a tune or two that “makes my big toe shoot up in my boot” (I once heard Little Richard make that statement about the first time he heard specific blues and gospel music…Little fucking Richard). 

When I hear one of these “big toe” songs, I add it to the playlist I created called, “The Turn-Ons”. Aside from being a killer name for a band, it is a playlist of songs where I can go back to later on and explore the artists and albums the songs come from. I made the playlist public so that it can be listened to, shared, downloaded and so that anyone can add songs to it. Have at it: The Turn-Ons

I like this particular process because it compliments one of my three listening filters: “birds of a feather”. I really do try and listen to more current bands and modern sounds, but every time i try and stray from my core listening sound, I waste money and it kills my listening experience. 

My ear is tuned into the following: blues, old/original/real country, classic soul music, rock and roll originators and the first tier of original rock and roll bands. By first tier I mean those bands born out of the influence of the originators. There are more sounds that are part of my taste-collection, but those listed make up the core. 

By using the Rdio station filter, I can stay true to my “birds of a feather” filter. Generally I find it works. 

For the record, here are my three primary listening/discovery filters:
  • “10x Rule”: I always listen to any new album (and I only buy albums) 10x times in a row, start to finish. This is a must. It is the only way to really get in sync with the album as intended by the artist. You have to make time for this filter; you have to single-task when doing this. I recommend headphones for this one.
  • “Birds of a Feather”: you get the idea here
  • “Circle of Trust”: this is my word of mouth filter from friends (real and imaginary), trusted music sites and publications.
Ok, back to the plot…

I share a lot of music on The 6149 as well. I try to embed YouTube vids as well as hyperlinks to tracks from TinySong and last.fm. I also embed playlist that I create on Grooveshark. Grooveshark just gave their site an HTML5 overhaul and while it is nice, the create and modify playlist feature is not working for me right now. I like the embed feature and hopefully I can continue using it.  My blogging platform of choice (for now), Posterous also allows me to embed playable/downloadable audio/content. Additionally I have used Dropbox and Mediafire to share playlists I create and offer up for downloading.

Currently I am locked into the Apple system. I have a MacBook pro, iPhone and iPad. The later I use as a consumption (convenience) device (not a “production” device). There are a few apps I use on it including the Spotify & Rdio apps. 

Photo

I use some regularly, others sparingly/fit for purpose and a few I have just have to try out.  The online streaming sites such as NPR, Wolfgang’s Vault and Daytrotter are killer content sites. I spend a lot of time on Wolfgang’s Vault (@concertvault) as it truly hits on my numbers 2 & 3 filters (the VIP pass is well worth the spend). 

I enjoy my Apple products, but lately I am getting both frustrated (hell-oh, iTunes!) and curious about other platforms (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I’ll stick with them for the time being, but I do use a few other products that assist in enhancing my listening/interactive experience. 

There are three products/services that pushed me over the edge to finally use streaming services: Apple TV, Airplay & Airfoil (by RogueAmoeba). I do not want to listen to music primarily through my crap laptop speakers. I have a dedicated listen room, which I call the Music Box with a great ONKYO system with Bose speakers that produce damn good sound that has an Apple AirTunes receiver hooked up to it. I also have a couple of Bose speaker docking stations in my flat with AirPort Express attached to them (I am not a strict Bose fan, I just haven’t upgraded my speakers in a couple years). 

I can play all my music via AirPlay to all of my speaker outpost: my music, everywhere I want it. I just got Apple TV as well. It is not the end all be all, but I do like the flexibility it offers. Now I can listen to my music via the TV set-up and watch all of my music doccos via airplay. I can also stream web and app content from my iPhone and iPad (more on that in a bit) to the the flat outposts. All up, the Apple system is fitting the bill right now. 

But…BUT…what Airplay can’t do for me (yet) is stream my Spotify and Rdio, or even YouTube, stuff.  When my web based music streaming/watching/listening experience is limited to the computer…I’m out. If I can get that to my stereo and other AirPlay supported outposts…I’m in! To solve that I am using Airfoil. Airfoil works like Airplay but it allows me to send my streaming accounts, Wolfgang’s, Ronnie Wood Radio throughout my flat. 

I am also using a few iPad apps to discover new sounds. One of which is called Aweditorium. As far as the experience goes, it is unique amongst other music discovery apps; you need to check it out for yourself. If you don’t have an iPad, you can use the web app to get the feel. When using the iPad app, you can stream the audio and video via AirPlay to AirPort Express or your Apple TV set up. It is simple, and from my perspective, it enhances my music discovery/listening experience.

Whew. This is a long post, eh? OK, one more: vinyl. The best listening experience is vinyl. Listening to vinyl is the tip-top, dedicated, I really, really want to listen to and enjoy THE MUSIC without distraction (except staring at the album art and read the liner notes) experience. To share that experience is the ultimate share…you must have people present in the room for that to happen. 

Ah, listening habits…that is post for another day. This current post has gone on longer than a Ken Burns documentary; it’s time I put a period on it. Hopefully I have enlightened you to a few new ways that you can enhance your own music experiences. Additionally, I encourage you to follow, friend, link with, grapple on to and join me on on any of my music-social outposts I linked to. 

I’ll be back later in the week with Part 2 of this post: why people don’t give a rat’s ass about listening to music anymore. 

In the meantime…dig this shit:

Long live rock, indeed…

Aug 26

10 Comments

Front Burner Music in 2010: Fave Raves & Future Sounds

As far as my tastes go 2010 has been a great year for music thus far. This year I have made a concerted effort to cast a wider net and explore a broader selection of sounds. For the past couple years my ears have been tuned into the deep south where the roots of the blues and classic soul find deep Earth. It has been a rowdy, fun and educational ride, but this year it was time to get back on the new(er) sound scene. 

I have two playlists that are constantly being topped up with new purchases. One is called “New New 2010″. This is where all new albums from “newer” or more current artists go. The other is “New Old 2010″. This playlist is occupied by “older” artists re-releases or albums from older artists that I am just getting around to sinking teeth into.  
Screen_shot_2010-08-25_at_12
0screen_shot_2010-08-25_at_12

See the full gallery on Posterous

Both lists keep true to two of my music listening filters. One is: don’t stray too far from my beaten path of preferred sounds, Basically, what that means is don’t buy shit I know I wont’t listen to. I am using Spotify and other streaming sources to vet curiosities.  When I get a new album I apply another filter: I listen to the album back to front at least 10 times (not necessarily in a row). I am applying this last one to Robert Randolph’s new album right now (it’s gonna need it…yikes!). 

Here are some 2010 albums that haven’t come off the boil yet for me (in no particular order):
  • The Black Keys: Brothers. Vying for top spot as my fave rave for 2010. Crunchy, blues, hooky songs with an ever present looming, soulful feel lurking in the shadows of each tune (vinyl)
  • The Drive-By Truckers: The Big ToDo. Neck and neck with “brothers” to fave rave. Great storytelling on this…a true ballsy rockshow record (vinyl)
  • Tom Petty & The Ass-Kickers: Mojo. Shit, this band got even tighter in 2010. Mike Campbell owns this record. Glad Petty got his blues on. It paid off (vinyl)
  • Derek Trucks Band: Roadsongs (Live). Figures. Since I loved “Already Free”, I knew this would work for me. Trucks is genius…and there is so much more left. I can’t wait. 
  • Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings: I Learned the Hard Way. Wow…they made a classic Staxian-soul album without sounding dated. Great party starter.
  • Ray Lamontagne & The Pariah Dogs: Loved the fact that Ray took over on the knobs. Looking forward to the next to see what Ray comes up with.
  • The Hold Steady: Heaven is Whenever. From the get-go, this album sounds big and full-on. I love the action in it…feels like it pushes and pulls me along. 
  • Dawes: North Hills: This one surprised the hell out of me. I love the Topanga canyon vibe on it. The album is not overwhelming and that is why I like it. It knows who it is. 
  • Bettye Lavette: Interpretations of the British Songbook. I am a sucker for Bettye. She wrings every last drop of emotion out of every song and syllable. She burns.
  • Arcade Fire: The Suburbs, I am a convert here. Maybe I didn’t give Neon Bible enough time, but this album is under my skin. The NYT article pushed me over the edge. 
  • Jeff Beck: Emotion and Commotion. Another artist that won me over in 2010. His playing on this stunned me. My friend Kip calls him The Professor. School i in…
  • Peter Parcek: The Mathematics of Love. I know (and work with) this man and he is a fucking guitar master. Check him out here and here. You won’t be sorry…
  • Others from the “New Old” list: Bonnie Raitt (first three albums – Bonnie Raitt,Taking My Time, Give it Up), Johnny Winter (“Johnny Winter”), Tammy Wynette (“Your Good Girl’s Gone Bad”), Django Reinhardt (“Anthology 1934-1937), Delaney & Bonnie (“Home”), Mike Bloomfield (“Live at the Old Waldorf”), Jerry Jeff Walker (“Ridin’ High”), Guy Clark (“Dublin Blues”), Albert Collins (“Frozen Alive”), Jimmy Rodgers (“Chicago Bound”), Mississippi Fred McDowell (“The Best of “), Leon Russell (“Carney”)
There are plenty…plenty…of other albums I bought and listened to, but all of those have many plays. 

The rest of 2010 looks ripe for cool releases. Here are the ones on my radar:
  • Neil Young: Le Noise (Sep 28th)
  • Mavis Staples: You Are Not Alone (Sep 14th)
  • Robert Plant: Band of Joy (Sep 14th)
  • Ronnie Wood: I Feel Like Playing (Sep 27th)
  • Bob Dylan: The Whitmark Demos (Oct 19th)
  • Kings of Leon (Oct 19th)
  • Justin Townes Earle: Harlem River Blues (Sep 14th)
  • Jerry Lee Lewis: Mean Old Man (Sep 7th)
  • Jimmy Barnes: Rage & Ruin
  • JJ Grey & Mofro: Georgia Warhorse 
  • Grace Potter & The Nocturnals: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
  • Eric Clapton: Eric Clapton (Sep 27th)
  • Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses: Junky Star (Sep 7th)
  • Jamey Johnson: The Guitar Song (Sep 14th)
I’m going to give those last two a go. I’ll stream them and but them if they make the cut. The other album I am looking forward to is the collaboration between Elton John and Leon Russell. I am not a massive Elton fan, though I love his Tumbleweed Connection and Honky Chateau albums (best experienced on vinyl). Leon Russell, though…I love this cat. I got to see him for the first time here in London a few weeks ago and he cemented himself in my mind as a legend in music lore. If this album delvers on a Tumble Weed / Leon Self-Titled album level…we are in for a stone cold treat. 

Here is the first song off of this new one titled, “The Union”. 

http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fmmmusic%2Felton-john-leon-russell-if-it-wasnt-for-bad&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=006699
 

What have you been listening  to in 2010? What is on your shopping list?

 

Aug 16

18 Comments

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). 

Img_0302
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?