Free weekends was previously spent rummaging through new and used records to keep up the latest and catch up on things I missed or misplaced (or was stolen by former friends).
Imagine how surprised I was when I found there is a current generation of people who don't know what a record store is, or even a CD for that matter.
That's troublesome.
I spent greater than a decade in music retail, even managed a store for a year or two. I recall meeting many artists, getting product from many reps and music store selling much music - a whole load of music.
For those who have no idea, music stores were places your parents (or sometimes grandparents) used to hold out to buy music. We bought LPs, long playing records that were played on turntables that have been usually attached to an amp or receiver which had large speakers (the bigger the better) mounted on it. Sometimes we bought cassettes, eight track tapes, reel to reels, and 45s, depending on what our mood was and how our stereo (the big thing that use to sit in the family room until you got married as well as your wife said the speakers couldn't stay static in the living room) was configured.
Then came the CD in 1982, and well, you know the rest.
Yes, I'm old enough to keep in mind all of those as well as DAT (digital audio tape), minidiscs, Super Audio CDs (SACD) and DVD Audio.
Soon, there will be a generation that doesn't know what some of those formats are. We are able to thank technology and innovation for this, and, more specifically, the late Steve Jobs and Apple. iPods changed the way we listened to music and iTunes changed just how we bought music. If video killed the air star, surely Apple has done the same for music stores with this particular download technology and its necessary hardware.
Portable music players were around a long time before the iPod. Boom boxes from various manufacturers made a lot of people cringe through the late '70s and mid '80s, blasting rap and hip-hop on buses, street corners and all over the place. Then came the Sony Walkman which made everyone's musical choices private. These were amazing for the reason that music could sound great through headphones. Walkmans eventually shifted to CDs and the sound improved again.
The iPod was different. It didn't (but still doesn't) need the current media. There have been no moving parts (except for the click wheel) - nothing to insert or remove. You ripped music stored on your computer to your iPod.
Again, not new. MP3 players were around therefore was Napster, a theft, I mean music sharing website that allowed people to load "free" music to their computers. It wasn't really free. People didn't shell out the dough therefore the artist got pissed and many lawsuits started flying. iTunes avoided the controversy by selling the music to customers. Thus was created this great Apple ecosystem of having music for all you devices which now include iPhones, iPads, iMacs and iAnything else Apple should come up with.
Sadly, this is also the demise of most music stores. People no longer needed the physical media - just download. Who needs album artwork or that feel of paper or plastic in your hands? You don't need to go somewhere to browse for hours through dusty crates or crowded shelves packed with artists from today or years back. Who does that?
I do.
Yes, I've met the digital age. I've owned a couple of iPods (the initial shuffle and the first two Nanos). I even have Netflix and XM radio.
But I'm still a throw back. I love owning the physical media. I've still got several cassettes. My last eight track disintegrated and my album collection is dog-eared. Yes, I can take that crackling sound coming through my speakers, not headphones. The sound is warmer than some CDs, unless I'm playing the few DVD Audio or SACD that I own.
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