The End of Owning Music?

I’m currently reading a book called “Every Song Ever” by New York Times columnist Ben Ratliff. I’d read an article with him about the changes in music and how people are now streaming music as opposed to purchasing the music via LP, CD and downloads. I thought that the book would be a continuation of that argument, but it’s not – it’s about the different ways one can understand music. It’s a good book, if different from what I thought I would read. One chapter was on slow music, and taking his advice I listened to “Dopesmoker” by the band Sleep, which is a one hour drone of a song(“stays in one key, mostly in one chord. The control is fantastic…”). Well, it’s something you have to be in the mood for, anyway.

There’s been a discussion among my music friends about the end of owning music. Someone started it by writing how he’s changed over the years so he loads up his streaming site with the albums he wants to hear, and that doing that has lessened the appeal of purchasing music. That model seems to be where we’re headed, but as with some of the others, for me streaming (or listening to podcasts, etc.) is supplemental to owning music. I’ve always been a collector (not a hoarder honest!) – although many purchases are downloads, and not a physical product, I like to own music. It’s a way of supporting the artists, which I think is important. I’ll get physical media to support artists, too, as CD’s or LP’s (yes, still listen to vinyl – I’ll need to update my LP’s I’ve listened to). I hope that y’all are the same as me – supporting artists by buying music as well as listening to podcasts as a way of learning about new music.

So take the time to listen to today’s podcast, which has a mix of old and new music. We’ve got the Skiffle Players, Wussy, Beck, the Rolling Stones, Ride, Lush, Jarvis Cocker, Graham Coxon, Damien Jurado, Arctic Monkeys, Primal Scream, Santigold, Matthew Sweet, Them, and Todd Rundgren on today’s podcast.

This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at the site. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.