Have digital music formats such as MP3 affected your appreciation of music?

[Steve]

When I first got into hip hop, the WWW wasn't around. You couldn't download sneak previews, leaked albums, advances and all that other stuff. There used to be a real anticipation about getting a new album. You'd know the release date well in advance usually, and you might have heard a track or two on John Peel or whatever, but there was something exciting about going to the local record store on the day of release to hand over your hard earned.

 

Do you think the the abundance of illegal MP3s on the web has spoiled your enjoyment of music?

 

What about legal downloads? Do you think people are missing out on something by not visiting a record/CD store, or am I just a nostalgic old fool?

[FreeiPod]

A difference ive noticed is that when I get an MP3 album i tend to skip through tracks etc, to see which ones i like then listen to them , but when i used to buy records i just let the thing play from start to finish and listen to the whole thing.

 

I think music in general just had more value , the main reason being because you had to actually buy it to have it , which these days with the internet and bluetooth n shit is no longer true.

 

And yeh i used to be checking in HHC n shit to see the release dates for all the new albums but now i know im gonna be able to get it before its even out so i don't bother , its all fucked up , the only person i can rly blame is myself bcus i have a choice not to do it and being an artist myself it makes it even worse bcus i know how much the shit would bug me out , but when your not exactly rolling in money the temptation will get you every time.

[Lorn]

Good music is good music regardless of its format. I've bought numerous releases I've already acquired legally/illegally through the mp3 format for warmth and clarity. There's a lot of bullshit out on mp3.. but there is also a lot of bullshit out on vinyl.

[Gizmo]

I would like to think that shelling out £6.99 back in the day for an import 12" that I'd never heard and only bought because of the name would make me listen to it more and try to like it because of the ludicrous amount of cash I'd just laid out for it. But it didn't. I either like music or I don't - the format is irrelevant.

 

As I get older, there's less and less music that has the impact that some tracks did when I was younger. I don't think that's because of digital or the sheer volume of music available - it's down to having heard so much in my time and hearing that music at key stages in my life. Music moves you regardless of the format. It's more likely going to be down to the circumstances in your life - your mood, your job, your relationships etc.

 

I've rambled on at length in the past about the loss of the record buying experience. It's not only that - buying someone an iTunes gift card or simply downloading music and dropping it on an iPod for your loved one isn't the same. Nothing beats hunting down a piece of vinyl or even picking up the latest CD, wrapping it up and giving it to someone as an actual present. I fear that losing that element of music (for it is an important one) is spoiling music more than anything else.

[that guy from P.A.]

Good music is good music regardless of its format. I've bought numerous releases I've already acquired legally/illegally through the mp3 format for warmth and clarity. There's a lot of bullshit out on mp3.. but there is also a lot of bullshit out on vinyl.

 

 

amen....mp3's exposed me to way more music than i ever heard before...

[TBearOne8III]

it hasnt affected my appreciation of music. i've been broke for so long now. and with each new year, i visit the record shops less and less. so mp3's have put me on albums that i would probally never get the loot to buy. and then theres stuff i've downloaded that i was glad i didnt shell out any cash to get. i guess my biggest problem is, these are only files. if something happens to my computer, im fucked. the bulk of my collection is still vinyl and cd's. but theres alot of stuff that i only have on mp3.

[Blak Randy]

The format MP3 hasn't spoiled my appreciation but the web has a bit, but not as much as one thing.

 

The one thing that will spoil your appreciation of music more than anything else is DJing out on a regular.

[chile]

I think you mainly miss the sense of satisfaction you can get from buying a physical item.. like lorn said, good music is good music regardless.. i can bet if you went into a record store now and found something great you hadnt heard before that was also cheap, youd be buzzing, i still get that feeling anyway.. yeah i do think people lose out from not visiting record/cd stores though, its more of an experience when you go out digging, as opposed to just downloading something from a search result off a torrent site. also yeah, snippets build up anticipation for a release and thats pretty much lost with illegal downloading

[Steve]

The format MP3 hasn't spoiled my appreciation but the web has a bit

Yeah, perhaps I didn't make that clear. I meant the way music is distributed too - the whole deal.

 

One good thing about MP3s is I've been able to get loads of old school hip hop and electro tracks that I either couldn't find anywhere, or could only find on eBay for crazy money. It's good for people wanting to get their music heard too, as long as they're not interested in making money, haha.

[Unseen]

it hasnt ruined my love for music so much, but its more about how its changing the dj culture that i dont like. all these new cats simply bringing their serato or cdjs. i dont know...call me stubborn, ignorant, or just plain dumb, but i like digging through crates at the local thrift shop. i love the feel of vinyl. i love being challenged to manipluate records rather than have things so succinct with ditigal mediums. above all, i know im not reliant on a computer screen to cue my music. hope i didnt go off base, but i wont ever sleep on analog music when it comes to cutting or mixing.

[Steve]

it hasnt ruined my love for music so much, but its more about how its changing the dj culture that i dont like. all these new cats simply bringing their serato or cdjs.

I agree, but I guess it's how the equipment is used. The problem seems to be that it makes some DJs lazy as fuck. For example: -

 

 

Staring at waveforms to beat match tracks and pressing buttons instead of rewinding the record isn't for me.

[3D]

The whole mp3 thing really has'nt ever appealled to me just like cd's never

did. My cd collection consists of about 10 cd's my mp3 collection is of

mixes for my commute. I know people who have gig's of music that

they probably could'nt listen to in there lifetime it just seems stupid to

me.

 

I want to get serato but only to take 8 bar breaks from my vinyl to

mess around with and try to compose stuff, loop stuff up and all that.

Its a human condition to hoard stuff and there is no difference in the

digtal world. I really have enough stuff to save and protect on my computer

without stressing about my music collection on there.

 

So I've never looked for mp3's or owt and I'm glad I hav'nt.

 

Vinyl just keeps it nice and simple for me anyway.

[Dan]

it hasnt ruined my love for music so much, but its more about how its changing the dj culture that i dont like. all these new cats simply bringing their serato or cdjs.

I agree, but I guess it's how the equipment is used. The problem seems to be that it makes some DJs lazy as fuck. For example: -

 

 

Staring at waveforms to beat match tracks and pressing buttons instead of rewinding the record isn't for me.

 

you'll like this then steve: http://www.scratchlive.net/forum/discussio...ussion_id=37039

[Liam]

It's just a paradigm shift. The content is the same.