The Next Big Thing

Excuse me, I'm in a modicum of discomfort here having burned the skin off the roof of my fecking mouth and it's smarting like something that's smarting a lot...

So how do you stand on the reported imminent death of the “album”?

I’m not so sure that it’ll directly affect fans of music per se. Maybe the countless thousands on the periphery never gave a hoot anyway? If it stops a bunch of chancers assembling something around one track to milk the hard earned moolah out of folks who are easily duped then bring it on. Been reading a lot of opinion on all this and it seems to me that the end result will be the fall of your Virgins, HMV’s and the like. HMV has reportedly bought some FOPP's and plans to reopen them ASAP but they want to retainthe identity they had. And how's that supposed to bloody work? The megastores gave up on music ages ago anyway. Banishing it to other floors to embrace the dvd so fuck them. They also charge too much but they have to pay their rent somehow I imagine. Wherever possible, I urge you to buy your stuff directly from the artist or from an independent shop. The dust may well settle when these huge outlets finally crash.

While I am prone to downloading a little bit, I can’t see it being the way I enjoy music ever. Not being an ipod or mobile phone receptacle owner, I’m waiting until the global jukebox model hits. This will involve the act registering their material in a huge inventory that will be accessed through a portal such as TV or monitor. The “purchase” of a track or several will then be administered at source and the owner of the material will be paid. Not unlike selling an article on ebay or whatever. These huge stores are just overheads. They serve no social purpose. Which makes me think, I’ve been meaning to watch High Fidelity again. To bring back the (gooder) old days to the rapidly aging, increasingly agitated yours truly.

Having stuck my toe in the fetid waters of ebay once again recently, it wasn't terribly pleasurable. On top of the palaver itself, the way the mail setup here is now means that there are all kinds of whys and wherefores to consider. While magazines seem to pass for "letter rate", everything else (records, cd's etc.) is "packet" which means that they rack up the cost. I think I mentioned before that recent activities by this once proud organisation definitley indicate a trajectory of freefall. On top of that you get nickel and diming with regard to postage. I charge postage at cost, that means if somebody wants recorded delivery then that's what they get. At exactly what it costs to mail. Some people just fire in an inordinate amount to begin with, which doesn't seem to deter buyers. I've paid a couple of quid for something I know was only 34p to ship but that's a symptom of the disease. It's not enough to get all bent outta shape about but it rankles and is the fundamental reason why I try to work the way I do. Most people are fine to deal with. Some of 'em are even a pleasure but it's the fineglars that spoil it. My old practise of actually mailing stuff before it was paid for hit the dust a long time ago. You can just never tell. Oh sure, I want to get rid of the stuff that's gathering dust before I turn to same but is this the best way to go about it?

Angel said to me the other day "you made it".

I did but it's been a bumpy, stuff-festooned journey.