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The Incorrigible Iconoclast
Hard to imagine, I know, but every now and then I read something that sums up the State Of The Arts far more succinctly than I have ever done with my rambling missives. Today I wish to share two such somethings with you, my vast and loyal readership.
There are two sides to this “music business” equation (a proxy for all business, really) that are effected by evolving technologies. There’s the creator/producer side, and then there’s the user/audience side.
Again, the easiest nomenclature for the user/audience side would be “consumer;” Then we could just call the two sides of the transaction producers and consumers. But the distinction is important: particularly where “digital” music is concerned, there is no “consumption.” Consumption applies, to, say, grapes: when you eat a grape, that grape is gone. It has been consumed. But when you listen to a digital recording, or even purchase a track from a server somewhere, nothing is “consumed.” The original is still there.
I keep stressing this bit of pedantics because I firmly believe that thought processes are formed by language. Vocabulary determines perspective and maybe even attitude. That’s why I keep reminding readers that “Internet radio” is an oxymoron, and you can’t paste a “label” on a stream of electrons and digits. But I digress…
From the user side of the equation, it was encouraging to read this assessment of the burgeoning new market for “cloud” services from Jon Pareles, a senior music critic at the New York Times:
I can’t wait. Ever since music began migrating online in the 1990s I have longed to make my record collection evaporate — simply to have available the one song I need at any moment, without having to store the rest.
That’s the promise of “The Celestial Jukebox” that I have also been anticipating since the mid 90s – “whatever you want to hear, whenever you want to hear it, wherever you are.” As Pareles points out, we still wait for “the bastards to let us.” Continue reading
And pretty new icons, too.
…but you still have to pull it with a horse.
Other than that, there really is a lot to like about all the announcements that Apple made yesterday, and they announced a lot.
First there is the new operating system, OSX Lion, which brings some of the touch screen features of the iPhone and the iPad to the desktop. Then there is iOS 5, the new operating system for all the iGizmos, which at the very least will finally allow you to sync them altogether without a cord.
And then there was the Big New Thing: iCloud, the remote storage service that unifies everything into a whole new, self-organizing, digital ecosystem.
It will take even the most dedicated observers some time to assess all the features in all this new software – much of which will not actually be released until next fall. So there is plenty of time to sort it all out and start saving sheckels for our nifty new laptops, phones, and tablets.
But in one critical aspect, the new iCloud service is woefully lacking – and missing a grand opportunity to deliver music distribution to its inevitable destination. Continue reading
Whatever Apple is planning, "The Boss" will be part of it now that Sony has signed on.
File this one under” useless speculation.”
Because, while the news is intriguing, it really is pointless to speculate what Apple is planning to do with these licenses until they actually announce whatever it is they are going to announce.
Personally, I will be woefully disappointed if, after all this time (a year and a half since acquiring Lala.com), all Apple comes up with is a better “cloud storage” locker.
If there is no “subscription iTunes” component, Apple will have lost an opportunity to be as disruptive — and ahead of the curve — as they were with the original iPod and iTunes.
I don’t think Apple is motivated by their potential to be “disruptive.” I think they’re motivated by a clear sense of where the holes are in the market and their driving their digital truck right through it. So I remain hopeful that Apple is finally going to do what needs to be done, and pave the way to a viable subscription service.
And make now mistake, as disruptive as iTunes was when it started offering 99c downloads, a subscription service will be as disruptive again. So fasten your seat belts, and let’s just wait and see what Cupertino is going to come up with.
If you have read anything I’ve written here in the last two years, then you will already understand how a moment like this defines the New Paradigm:
This is the highest expression of “fan engagement” I’ve ever seen. A moment like this demonstrates that the music belongs to all of us now. We all belong to the tribe, and the “rock stars” of yesterday are the “chiefs” of today (and tomorrow).
Like the woman in this video, I grew up learning to play guitar by listening to Simon and Garfunkel songs. That might just as well have been me. It could have been any one of probably hundreds of people in the audience.
Now, I really do think I’m going to have to stand outside the Ryman with a fistful of dollar bills and try to get tickets to see Paul Simon when he plays there tomorrow night…
(More commentary from Rob Boilen at NPR’s All Songs Considered here.)
Gizmodo echoes what I was trying to say about Amazon’s “cloud” service:
Google isn’t offering you a vast, new catalog. It’s just offering to hold your shit for you.
I already have plenty of places to store my own shit, with various degrees of portability and accessibility.
So bzzzzz…. thank you for playing.
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Apple? Somebody? Anybody?
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