Image Courtesy of VirtualMusic.tv
Brendan Mulligan, the founder of ArtistData now flush with SonicBids cash from their recent takeover, opines that rented music is the way to go over at Hypebot. While it sounds hip and enlightened, this is one of the scariest (and weakest) memes I’ve seen in awhile.
First of all, if you actually care what music sounds like the whole idea’s crazy. Pandora and Rdio soundalikeass! I’m not a snob, I’m just not deaf (yet)! 128K artifacts are ugly and easily audible, and that’s the best-case scenario streamed. This is fine for background listening, and for many people that means it’s good enough. But if you listen on a decent system, not computer speakers, the current streams are not ready for primetime. If recent bandwidth trends continue, this won’t be getting better any time soon; the unlimited bandwidth needed to get your music streamed is no longer the norm for iPhones, and most carriers are finding ways to limit demand by charging per megabyte. Meanwhile users are moving to smaller, data-driven smartphones with similar issues, and away from desktop broadband. Strike one.
If one accepts this meme, wither Sgt. Peppers, Dark Side of the Moon or Exile on Main Street? Concept albums and bodies of work are less accessible as sound, but we also give up the liner notes and packaging with the services you’re pimping. When you move to this new paradigm, the act of listening to music purely for its own sake becomes more difficult. You can’t invite a bunch of friends over to hear the new Flaming Lips record, unless listening is really just an excuse for drinking and yakking – drop outs and re-syncs are part of the experience, along with the $hitty $hitty sound, eliminating the possibility of pure musical entertainment. Even the bad-old CD can be fun to listen to as an album, when the music is good. Streaming makes pure listening rare or impossible. Strike two.
Keep in mind, once you board this train there’s no going back. It will disrupt, destroy and replace the old paradigm entirely. As the physical purchase market shrinks, economies of scale go away (vinyl sells for a permanent premium, because manufacturing capacity is capped and shrinking – no mfg has sold a new press or lathe in 20 years!). While it’s fine to discuss new models, cheering radically different and clearly weaker ones is dangerous, if not dumb. Be careful what you cheer for – if you get it, you’ll have creative blood on your hands, and be working a new, lamer music market. A rented-music paradigm is great for stars and bottom feeders, but puts sustainable middle class “jobdom” (new since the 90s in music biz) on the ropes. Strike three.
Ultimately this article feels like a surrender to garbage and noise, trading a rich heritage for ephemera. It’s weak on facts and analysis, pitching a scheme to move music permanently into the background of our lives. I don’t see it as visionary, merely dystopic punditry. The fact that so many responders are willing to give up on concept albums, sound quality, liner notes, tangibility, and a broad license to flexibly enjoy their music is alarming to say the least. Bah humbug, I say “Nay!” to Brendan Mulligan’s carelessly tossed grenade.
After cashing a fat SonicBids check, why not throw the rest of us under the bus? His ideas are great for ArtistData (who will track all these unpaid spins, and rent you access to metrics), and his new masters at SonicBids (the gatekeepers for festivals, and live booking, and more recently licensing, all unaffected by his bomb-throwing). Given the timing of Mr. Mulligan’s brainstorm, the attitude reminds me of Henry Hill’s famous line from Good Fellas: “F*ck you, pay me.” Ummmmm… no thank you?
