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Columns: ‘Dr Pangloss’ by Brian Eno I’m not entirely sure if this speaks positively or negatively about the state of music listeners today. But it’s true that the mp3 has become a commodity, distributed legally or pirated. Perhaps it is the iPod/iTunes effect. Maybe it is the inefficiency of the compact disc. Or could it be the attention span of the listener. Realistically it is probably the sum of these contributing factors. Songs amass in digital landfills known as hard drives, and for many the only way to escape the ever expanding reach of one’s own collection is to return to something physically rooted in art. Something tangible that makes you feel apart of something rather that being defined by all the immaterial aspects of being a digital consumer, a faceless fan. |
The duplicability of recordings has had another unexpected effect. The pressure is on to develop content that isn’t easily copyable—so now everything other than the recorded music is becoming the valuable part of what artists sell. Of course they’ll still want to sell their music, but now they’ll embed that relatively valueless product within a matrix of hard-to-copy (and therefore valuable) artwork. People who won’t pay £15 for a CD will pay £150 for the limited edition version with additional artwork, photos, booklet and DVDs. They often already own the music, downloaded—but now they want the art. They’re buying art, and they’re buying it in a new way. That suggests to me the possibility of a refreshingly democratic art market: a new way for visual artists, designers, animators and film-makers to make a living. So, as one business folds, several others open up.
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