Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Music's emerging digital market

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  • 3410,

    artists can't live on praise alone

    But it does help!

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    didn't know this was a council thang - thats well cool

    The label itself wasn't council but grew from the council scheme which funded the people who set it up.

    Sadly the label is yet another example of a thing that is slowly being tossed into history and forgotten as a result of the fact that New Zealand doesn't have a dedicated music archive (and yes I know we have a sound archive which touches on that but not the same thing).

    A couple of other things:
    1) the physical format is not dead despite the noise we hear. CD sales still dominate, and even more so in a country like NZ where we don't seem to have quite the digital music penetration of other nations (there is not a major record store left on Manhattan now). What percentage of Susan Boyle albums sold on mp3? I don't know the split but I bet digital was a distant second to the CD.
    2) the album is alive and well and selling across almost all genres, the exceptions being pop, dance, r'n'b and hip-hop which are totally dominated by digital track sales. Alt rock too is increasingly digital and tracks; oh and vinyl (worldwide I'm talking, perhaps not NZ).
    3) you can argue that 1) & 2) are a generational thing and to a degree you would be right. The people buying CDs and albums tend to be older people bought up on older formats, and as we (the people who have posted here as to their album preferences are mostly in that age group) pass from the buying demographic, the album will continue to be marginalised as will physical.
    4)But neither will disappear. Who are buying things like the XX album, which has supposedly sold a million copies worldwide. It is not all old folks. And some genres, classical, jazz etc are always going to be album orientated although both genres are very small as a percentage of the marketplace, and the retail environment for physical will, within a few years, be niche specialist stores and on-line retailers where in places like the US East Coast and much of Asia it already is.

    Unless there is some unforeseen revolution in formats I think the future of the album and the CD are pretty well mapped out and neither face extinction.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    I wouldn't trust anything that guy says.

    nah, me neither. Wanna buy a Nice'n'Urlich box set?

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • bob daktari,

    we need a music archive, the amount of music that is and has slipped from the public sphere is sad... to put it mildly

    Me I like albums and even buy some, very few from NZ stores as they are generally souless and have not that which I want

    I hate JB Hi Fi, its a yellow warehouse... sure I get my kraftwerk reissue wax from there cause I can (cheapish and always in stock) but is it a enjoyable enriching experience... nope simply a financial transaction

    I miss the interaction of music nerds in the flesh... but I enjoy the freedom of the net more

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 540 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Nick Hornby wrote a piece in the Observer last year on the role that music blogs play now.

    Record stores of olden times were a place to both purchase music but also discover music. Purchasing music has moved online, but - as Russell noted above - it's hard to discover cool new music on iTunes.

    That's where music blogs and other music discovery websites come into play. They let people sample and discover music without risk.

    It took me longer than it should have done to work out that the internet is one giant independent record shop – thousands and thousands of cute little independent record shops, anyway.

    I've also been led to iTunes purchases via a hearty YouTube session. Or at least this is how I'm explaining the large amount of ELO that's recently made its way to my iPod.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    we need a music archive, the amount of music that is and has slipped from the public sphere is sad... to put it mildly

    It's a hobby horse of mine and has been for years. We have bits and pieces out there doing sterling jobs but a central, funded, NZ music archive, is massively overdue.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • chris,

    Pay me to tag your shop, it's still antibusiness.

    I'm going to say no, it's not. Just a "new" idea in capitalism. There's plenty of corporate organisations that use anti-corporate messages to sell their products. Still selling shit.I'm going to say no, it's not. Just a "new" idea in capitalism. There's plenty of corporate organisations that use anti-corporate messages to sell their products. Still selling shop.

    Yes, sorry i meant to type something along the lines of "pay me to tag his shop, it's still antibusiness", I was in the middle of something.

    I mentioned anti business; not talking/thinking about corporate mural writers/ graffiti artists. I mentioned this in relation to genuine badasses, not doing it for the positive feedback, nor the money, but for nothing more than to see their tags around the place using stolen spray paint.

    They deservedly get paid for this talent, and some do quite well out of it, although very few in New Zealand.

    different genre.

    Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    +1 for Lady Gaga.

    I just want to look at her outfits and videos. Her music leaves me rather cold - it doesn't seem to have what I need in the way of hooks, or something. Which is a bummer, because I am usually all about big fun pantsless pop songs. Speaking of which:

    the large amount of ELO that's recently made its way to my iPod

    I am sending you a virtual high five on the ELO-lovin', Robyn. (Jeff Lynne can keep his pants on, though.)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Wain,

    256k AAC -- generally pretty good, but occasionally problematic.

    I'll take anything 192kbps and above with FREE downloads, sure... but if it's mine and I have a choice, I ain't runnin' nothin' less than full CD size. And Apple/iTunes clearly are no use there. The default factory setting on my laptop was a horrendous 128kbps, ouch...

    Case in point: the Haiti quake disaster, Justin Timberlake singing Hallelujah with his pal Matt Morris, whoever the hell he is, on the US Hope For Haiti Telethon thing? Saw it at a TV station I was working at, thought how amazingly beautiful (and who knew JT could really, really sing?) so tried to buy it immediately as the blurb on CNN or whatever said I could... and I couldn't. Shame on them.

    So got the boffins to make me a big fat WAV file of it for the ol' Shuffle and YouSentIt to myself. Imagine my shock (if you're any kind of audio nerd) when it came in at over 2,000kbps! Who knew that was even possible?

    And to be able to listen to it on the Shuffle I had to knock it down to a mere 1,300kbps Apple Lossless file that would actually run on the wee thing. Sheesh...

    Since Nov 2006 • 155 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    a central, funded, NZ music archive

    NZ on Ear?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • chris,

    easy Sacha...

    Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    it came in at over 2,000kbps! Who knew that was even possible?

    TV gear utilises a sample rate of 48kHz instead of the 44.1kHz standard of CDs etc. I'm no expert, but the bit depth is probably 24 instead of 16; between the two, that would account for the near doubling of the data rate.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Wain,

    Nice! Obviously not that big an audio nerd, me. I just bought Buffalo on FLAC and of course it won't run on my stupid iTunes... d'oh!

    But put me down for any files "at least CD size" then... why starve yourself with a 128kbps hissy piece of crap when you can just as easily have 10 times that and it sounds fantastic comparitively?

    Storage space of course. I rotate songs instead.

    Since Nov 2006 • 155 posts Report Reply

  • Don Christie,

    I like JB for their pricing[..] but I don't linger there.

    Christ I'll say. I went in to the Wellington one in the BNZ Centre last week for the first time. It nearly induced vomiting. I had to beat a hasty retreat.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Don't think this one has been posted here yet. Russell talks with Wammo about this very topic this morn, including some stats.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Don Christie,

    Also, I'd be happy to see Flash die.

    You know, me too. But that doesn't make Job's control freakerie any more attractive. His "think of the children" line is exactly the one being used by China, Australia and the "entertainment" industry to close down the freedom of the internet as we know it.

    And the knee jerk defence of *anything* Apple does by Apple users is a little weird, don't you think?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    I love my current iMac (after the awful OSX Leopard programme was sorted.) I really enjoy my iPod Nano (holds all the music I ever need when away from home (where I have many hundred cds.) There is no way in hell I'm going to be buying an iPad ( because I have a perfectly good laptop that can do so much more) or an iPhone (my home area has no cell-phone coverage, and I have a really basic Nokia that I use when travelling- I dont want people to contact me (and I couldnt text to save myself) - I want to be able to ring other people (AA or family.)))
    So- Apple-user since 2001 but never been a knee-jerk defender of everything-Apple *at all.*

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    O, and I've never bought anything from iTunes either- the Nano is loaded with stuff from my own cds...

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Grace Dalley,

    Regarding Lady Gaga, and the irony quotient of her name, does anyone remember Man's single 2oz of Plastic With A Hole in the Middle? Or Bauhaus's album Press Eject And Give Me The Tape?

    I like artists who don't take themselves too seriously.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2008 • 138 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Yo Grace Dalley - I frankly relish *anyone*, artist or no, who doesnt take themselves too seriously.
    Only megalomaniacs, low key or high key (ahem) do this-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    . . . does anyone remember Man's single 2oz of Plastic With A Hole in the Middle? Or Bauhaus's album Press Eject And Give Me The Tape?

    No, but do I remember this.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • chris,

    I feel it's something of a miracle that the internet didn't cause the music industry to bottom out completely.

    Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    His "think of the children" line is exactly the one being used by China, Australia and the "entertainment" industry to close down the freedom of the internet as we know it.

    Having just had my blog blocked by the Thai censors I know how the children feel

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    Anyone else having issues with scoop.co.nz? PAS seems to stall on that when loading quite often today.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    Having just had my blog blocked by the Thai censors I know how the children feel

    Weird. Your blog is hardly a glowing endorsement of the Red Shirts, or any other shirts for that matter, and if anything it resembles a (cautious and caveated) endorsement of Thailand.

    Could it be that they're sensitive about foreign nationals after the Australian they've charged with incitement?

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

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