Moving On to Bigger Things

The new issue of Electronic Musician features an interview with the lead singer of Porcupine Tree, and it spends quite a bit of time addressing his intense dislike of the jukebox mentality and the mp3 sound format. Given that he operates mostly in the realm of progressive rock, it's understandable that he holds quite an attachment to the long-form concept album and the packages that made said genre what it was and is. As part of the recording of his new solo album, he's putting together a documentary about how musicians have been affected by the transition, with the point that an emphasis on digital audio files leads to degraded audio quality of the songs going to the consumer and less emphasis on full albums.

And I can halfway see his point, although artists are still putting out albums with songs in sequential order, and there's a lot more that goes into making good sound than just the quality of the sound file. The original material makes a huge difference, but that's not going to stop a friend of mine from listening to the mono bootleg of Mahavishnu Orchestra from the fairgrounds in the 70s. There's a lot more that goes into it. And I don't think the best way to look at it is to bemoan the loss of quality in the sound and how much people focus on songs and not albums now.

The better way to look at it, I'd think, is to focus on what's possible with the new technology. And not just offering custom packaging in limited editions for physical product. Albums can only present static images and liner notes. As an easy example, what about interactive album art or liner notes? How about the Presidents of the United States putting out an iPhone app that accesses their music (and potentially much more)? Imagine if it were a group I'd actually enjoy listening to (sorry, guys - I still cringe whenever I hear "Peaches")? And you can always make your songs available in lossless formats. Play them in a good stereo system, and I'm sure they'll hold up. If they've been recorded properly, that is. There's so much more than just the final format. If we made it through cassettes, we can make it through this.